De Beers opens store in Baku

De Beers will open a shop in Baku in February, said company spokesperson David Watling. To this end, the company has held a seminar.

The opening of a De Beers shop for diamond production is scheduled for February 2013. The store will be located at 12 Neftchilar Avenue.

De Beers’ products are certified and each polished diamond of at least 0.20 carat bears a microscopically labeled trademark.

* The De Beers company was created by Cecil Rhodes, the son of an English clergyman, who arrived in South Africa in 1870. Soon the company signed an agreement with the Bank of Rothschild and several other British banks with exclusive rights for the supply of diamonds. By 1902, De Beers controlled 95% of the world’s diamond production.

A comprehensive monopoly allowed De Beers to dictate prices for diamonds in the literal sense of the word. Ten times a year in London, the company invites its customers, major buyers of diamonds. Each is offered a box with uncut stones and a predetermined price. No trade, no additional information - the client buys a box at the De Beers announced price, or leaves empty-handed. Moreover, in buying diamonds, the customer agrees not to resell them in their raw form, which lets De Beers clearly control the world's diamond market, if necessary, playing on the rate of extraction of stones.

Lev Levayev paid a real blow to the De Beers monopoly. After emigrating from the Soviet Union in 1972, he worked for many years with the De Beers company. In the 1990s, Levayev was actively involved in the privatization of the Soviet economy, competing with the state-owned company ALROSA.

In 1996 Levayev owned goldfields in Angola, followed by deposits in the Congo and Namibia. Around the world, he opened factories for processing diamonds and diamond sales centers. For 15 years, Levayev managed to break the monopoly of De Beers, becoming its largest competitor. As of 2008, the company only controlled 40% of the total market.

The owners of De Beers in 2011 were: Anglo American plc (45%), Central Holdings Group (40% controlled by the Oppenheimer family) and the Government of Botswana (15%). In November 2011, the Oppenheimer family sold its entire stake to Anglo American, for $ 5.1 billion. -02D-