As the world's largest diamond congress is meeting in Russia starting Monday, July 12, 2010 the Russian government has set the ball rolling with the announcement of the government buying out $1 billion worth of diamonds from the country's Alrosa, a monopoly firm that was plagued with global economic crisis.

Russian Dy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Alexei Kudrin informed the congress on Monday that the government would buyout $1 billion worth of diamonds from country's diamond monopoly Alrosa to support the company and the diamond market amid the global economic crisis.

The global diamond industry was faced with order deferments and payment defaults mainly last year due to global slowdown. However, during this troubled times, many diamond miners had curtailed their diamond production and stabilized the prices for the rough diamonds.

The 34th World Diamond Congress, being held for the first time in Russia is one of the main events of the International Diamond Society. The three-day event is jointly organized by the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA).

Making the opening remarks, WFDB President Avi Paz maintained that the discussion at the conference will revolve around the role of WFDB and how its member bourses can advance the diamond trade in the new economy.

World Diamond Congress is the biannual congress, which has participation from 29 diamond exchanges that control 98% of global legal diamond trade.

Russia De Beers Diamonds