The world’s largest diamond company, Russia’s Alrosa, has appointed Rebecca Foerster as president of its U.S. operations, a role in which she will work on developing the miner’s polished sales in the country, the company said, according to Diamond World.
Foerster, who was previously executive vice president of strategic planning and marketing for Leo Schachter Diamonds, will also oversee the miner’s U.S.-based customer service. Prior to her tenure at Leo Schachter (since 2007), she held the position of Vice President at the U.S. Representative office of Rio Tinto, one of the three largest diamond mining companies in the world.
“Ms. Foerster has a wealth of experience in companies that represent almost all parts of the diamond pipeline, from diamond mining to diamond-jewelry sales,” Alrosa deputy CEO Yury Okoemov said Friday.
“She knows the specifics of the diamond business and is well aware of American market needs. We believe that her experience and expertise will best help to solve our US company’s tasks,” he added.
Foerster will be based out of Alrosa’s New York office, which reopened in 2018. The company has already held rough and polished auctions there in 2018 and plans to offer further sales this year.
The addition of the New York office helped Alrosa sell a combined $463 million worth of special-size stones at 32 rough auctions globally last year.
The miner will hold 37 sales this year, in Russia, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Hong Kong, and the U.S.
