Division (1)

This decision is addressed to De Beers société anonyme (‘De Beers SA’). The subject matter of the procedure was the purchase relationship between the De Beers Group of companies (‘De Beers’) and the second largest diamond producer ALROSA Company Ltd (‘ALROSA’) on the worldwide market of rough diamonds, for a substantial part distributed and/or processed in the European Economic Area (EEA). In its preliminary assessment, the Commission expressed concerns under Article 82 of the EC Treaty and Article 54 of the EEA Agreement about De Beers’ purchase relationship with its most important competitor ALROSA in light of its decades-long duration. The Commission’s competition concerns related to a Trade Agreement between De Beers and ALROSA concerning purchases of substantial amounts of rough diamonds and, pending Commission approval of the Trade Agreement, purchases from ALROSA under the ‘willing-seller-willing-buyer’ arrangement.