On December 22, 2020, the RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan met with the representatives of diamond production and jewelry industry of Armenia. The Minister’s Adviser Gagik Mkrtchyan and the Head of the Industrial Development Department Armen Yeganyan took part in the meeting.

The industry representatives thanked the Minister for the meeting and congratulated him on his appointment, hoping that being familiar with the problems of doing business will contribute to the quick and effective solution thereof.

During the meeting the priority issues of the sector, the possibilities of their solution and the forthcoming actions were discussed.

In particular, issues related to acquisition of the diamond raw materials, the exportation of jewelry products, customs duties, the value added tax, registration and timelines for issuance of the Kimberley Process Certificates, provision of licenses and notices and other issues were discussed. The discussion also focused on the issues of the customs clearance procedures, simplification and acceleration of documentation procedures, development of options for providing documents electronically.

The issue of collaboration between the diamond production companies and the representatives of the jewelry industry branch in Armenia was emphasized, as well as the possibility of using Armenia-made diamonds while producing jewelry goods. The necessity of creating conditions was discussed, which will allow the diamond production and jewelry branches of the industry to use each other’s potential and products.

The meeting participants also referred to the process of mutual recognition of hallmarks in the EEU and harmonization of procedures implemented in the field of diamond production and jewelry.

During the discussion of possibilities of providing state support for importation of diamond raw materials from the Russian Federation, the industry representatives noted that negotiations at the state level with the Russian company Alrosa and Gokhran on provision of raw materials can be very effective.

Reference was also made to the industry problems emerging at the impact of the Coronavirus and the issue of jobs. Issues related to the market expansion were raised and the Minister offered to consider the Iranian market as a new perspective direction of cooperation.

At the end of the meeting, Vahan Kerobyan noted such discussions will be continuous (these will be held within the framework of site visits to the companies of this sector), adding that it is necessary to make joint efforts to try to understand the existing problems and move forward by regulating them.