RUSSIA ANNOUNCES MAJOR DIAMOND SUMMIT
Leaders of Russia's government and diamond industry will convene an unprecedented conference of world diamond leaders June 19. The four-day conference includes a tour of Mirny, a mining area in Sakha Province that was a closely guarded secret until a few years ago.
The conference begins in Moscow with Russian officials outlining their country's newly expanded role in the diamond world and hosting a tour of diamond offices and polishing plants. Then participants will proceed to Sakha to meet with top provincial officials and tour the mining, sorting and marketing operations of Almazi-Rossi-Sakha (ARS), the agency that controls the mining and sales of Russia's newly mined diamonds.
Participants will include officials of ARS and Komdragmet, the agency that controls Russia's diamond and gold stockpiles; De Beers executives; delegates from all of th