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Alrosa office. Archival photoMOSCOW, May 3—RIA Novosti.Western sanctions against the Russian diamond producer Alrosa will not affect projects with the participation of the company in Angola, diamond production will increase, Russian Ambassador to Angola Vladimir Tararov told RIA Novosti. The ambassador explained that the diamond industry began to develop in Angola precisely with the participation of Russia, and over time, a local enterprise Catoca arose, the shareholder of which is the Russian Alrosa. «Now it has 41% of the shares. There are plans that the production and share of Alrosa will expand, this is being discussed … (Imposition of Western sanctions ) will not affect in any way (on joint projects with the Russian Federation),” Tararov said. “I recently spoke with the leadership that deals with, controls, among other things, the diamond industry. difficult times for us, that they helped us and still do not refuse cooperation, so we will look for various options and ways out in order to continue investments, continue their financing and resolve the issue of implementation diamonds,” he added. According to the ambassador, at first, none of the diamond producers wanted to invest in war-torn Angola.Indian buyers are looking for ways to buy diamonds from Alrosa, the media reported, «But the first one to dare was our company, which came to Angola, because even giants like De Beers refused, they said they were not interested. We are on this the step was taken because we had special relations with this country. They remember, know and appreciate it, and this is now reflected in our relations,» Tararov explained. He stressed that diamonds are in great demand, so there may be other sales markets, except for those countries that have imposed sanctions. «They (in Angola) do not dramatize the situation, on the contrary, they even cheer us up. They say that we will find ways out in terms of financial flows, in terms of product sales. Therefore, as we worked, we will work. And, you know, to some extent, the sanctions have even strengthened relations between our companies that operate in the diamond industry,” the ambassador added. % global and 95% Russian diamond mining. Sales of rough and polished diamonds reached $4.169 billion last year.The West demands from Africa to condemn Russia, said the ambassador to AngolaAlrosa was included in the sanctions lists of the EU, US and UK in connection with the events in Ukraine. As Bloomberg wrote, supply disruptions have already affected the cost of smaller diamonds, which the company specializes in selling. In addition, due to the fact that the country's banks do not make payments, the stones stopped coming to Surat, the world's largest diamond-cutting center. Earlier, it became known that an investment agreement was signed between the Angolan government and the large diamond manufacturing company De Beers. The contract, concluded after an almost 20-year break, is designed for 35 years and gives the right to explore and mine diamonds together with the Angolan state company Endiama. Angola is the second largest diamond producer in Africa. Before the coronavirus pandemic, Angola mined more than 9 million carats of diamonds a year.Alrosa reported difficulties in paying a Eurobond coupon