Botswana’s government is reviewing a proposed deal with HB Antwerp following reports Lucara Diamond terminated its sales agreement with the Belgian company due to financial irregularities, according to President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

On Thursday, Lucara Diamond said it had brought an end to its agreement with HB Trading BV – a unit of HB Antwerp – due to what it referred to as “a material breach of financial commitments by HB.”

As the world’s top diamond producer by value, Botswana announced a deal to purchase a 24% stake in HB Antwerp earlier this year and supply the firm with an unnamed quantity of rough diamonds for five years through the government-owned Okavango Diamond Company, Reuters reports.

After Lucara ended its deal with HB Antwerp, President Masisi said Botswana only had “an agreement in principle” with the Belgian company and had not signed a deal. He added that Botswana is now evaluating the situation.

“We have now learnt that the deal between Lucara and HB is off due to financial issues, as it has been reported. It is for us now to determine the course of action we are going to take,” Masisi stated.

Earlier this month, HB Antwerp removed one of its three co-founders, Oded Mansori, from management, citing differences regarding strategy, the Reuters report adds.

Following the move, Mansori, who co-founded HB Antwerp back in 2020 with partners Shai de Toledo and Rafael Papismedov, said he would take them to court over the decision.

HB Antwerp and Lucara Diamond initially formed a diamond sales agreement in 2020, which last year was extended for 10 years. Lucara stated it would continue to sell diamonds via its Clara diamond platform, traditional tenders and other routes.