20 Aug 2009 11:13

Alrosa says not planning new investment in Angola

MOSCOW. Aug 20 (Interfax) - Russian diamond miner Alrosa is not planning any new investment projects in Angola or elsewhere in Africa, Andrei Polyakov a company representative, told Interfax.

"The company is not currently considering new investment projects in Africa, including Angola. Moreover the president of Alrosa is currently reviewing all Africa projects so there can be no question of any new ones," Polyakov said.

Jornal de Angola this week said another Alrosa representative had told it the company was planning to invest $500 million in construction projects in Angola, including the construction of apartment blocks.

Alrosa is involved in the Catoca and Luo-Kamachia-Kamajiku diamond mining projects in Angola. It is also a member of a consortium licensed to prospect for oil and gas in Angola.

Alrosa planned to build the Chicapa-2 hydroelectric power plant in Angola, however this project came to a halt due to legal problems with construction in border districts and the inaccessibility of bank funding.

Alrosa owns 32.8% of the Catoca project, however earlier reports said it was thinking of pulling out of the Luo project because this had become unprofitable due to the crisis.