MOSCOW, June 09. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian oil company Lukoil has started industrial development of diamonds at the Vladimir Grib deposit in the Arkhangelsk Region, the company said in a statement Monday.

Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperov said earlier that the company will sell diamonds domestically and export them independently.

Under preliminary estimates, the reserves of the deposit stand at 100 million carats. The company hopes to get 58.4 carats through open pit mining in 16 years, Alekperov said.