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Paul Rowley to succeed Varda Shine as Executive Vice President
The De Beers Group of Companies today announced that Varda Shine, Executive Vice President of Global Sightholder Sales, will be leaving the organisation at the end of January 2014. Paul Rowley, Senior Vice President of Midstream Operations for Global Sightholder Sales, will succeed Shine as Executive Vice President following a comprehensive handover. Shine will also step down as Chairperson of the DTC Botswana board and Deputy Chairperson of the Namibia DTC board with successors to be announced in due course.
Paul Rowley brings a wealth of experience to the role, having joined De Beers in 1983 and filled a variety of senior positions in the organisation. He has served on both the DTC Botswana and Namibia DTC boards and was Acting CEO of DTC Botswana prior to his current role. His earlier experience also includes key account management, rough diamond purchasing in various African diamond producing countries and heading the Global Sightholder Sales Diamond Division.
Philippe Mellier, CEO of the De Beers Group of Companies, said: “Varda’s contribution to De Beers has been immense over three decades with the business and I would like to thank her wholeheartedly for her tireless commitment to the success of De Beers, its partners and the wider diamond industry. I am delighted to have a successor with Paul’s expertise in diamonds and experience in Africa to take Global Sightholder Sales forward – he will provide excellent continuity of leadership as the business settles in its new home”.
Varda Shine said: “I am very proud of all I have achieved with De Beers, both on the commercial side as well as establishing beneficiation at the heart of the organisation. I have really enjoyed working with our Sightholders over the years, witnessing their businesses transform, and with our government partners in the establishment of the DTC Botswana and Namibia DTC joint ventures and in managing the relocation of the Global Sightholder Sales operations from the UK to Botswana. I believe that De Beers has a very bright future in southern Africa and Paul has all the right ingredients to take the business on to further success”.
Paul Rowley said: “I am very excited to take up this new role. I have been fortunate enough to have worked all over southern Africa, forming strong relationships with our government partners, and to have built up decades of experience with rough diamonds. It will be a privilege to work more closely with our Sightholders, who are among the world’s leading diamantaires, and I look forward to starting a new chapter for Global Sightholder Sales in Botswana.”
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ABOUT DE BEERS GROUP OF COMPANIES
De Beers is a member of the Anglo American plc group. Established in 1888, De Beers is the world’s leading diamond company with unrivalled expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers employs more than 23,000 people (directly and as contractors) across the diamond pipeline, and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. As part of the company’s operating philosophy, the people of De Beers are committed to Living up to Diamonds by making a lasting contribution to the communities in which they live and work, and transforming natural resources into shared national wealth. For further information about De Beers visit www.debeersgroup.com.
VARDA SHINE
Varda began her De Beers career with Diamdel (now De Beers Auction Sales) in Israel in 1983, rising to the position of Diamdel Sales Director before moving to the DTC (now Global Sightholder Sales) in London in 1997 to take on the role of Production Manager. In 2003 Shine became DTC Director of Sales and Sightholder Services before being promoted to CEO of the DTC (which has since transitioned to Executive Vice President of Global Sightholder Sales) in January 2006.
Having led the establishment of the Sightholder Services Network, with the formal creation of the government joint ventures, DTC Botswana and Namibia DTC, as well as the De Beers-owned Sightholder Services South Africa (formerly DTC SA), Shine has filled the role of Chairperson of both the DTC Botswana and Namibia DTC boards.
PAUL ROWLEY
Paul began his career at De Beers in July 1983 as a Diamond Sorter in the DTC (now Global Sightholder Sales) Rough Diamond Division. Between 1986 and 1987 Paul undertook a secondment to Kimberley, South Africa, before taking up a rough diamond purchasing role which provided him with extensive diamond buying experience in areas such as southern Africa, Belgium and Russia.
After taking on further key roles in Sales and the Rough Diamond Division, in 2007 Paul assumed overall responsibility for the Diamond Division (including sorting, valuing, aggregation, diamond assortment development and the utilisation of diamond sorting technology). In this capacity, Paul was a member of the DTC Executive Committee in London and served on the boards of DTC Botswana and Namibia DTC.