ArmInfo. A state-owned Hay-Almast CJSC is being established in Armenia. The decision, which, according to the authors' intention, will become a serious impetus for opening new jobs in the diamond industry, attracting investments, promoting local production and exports, was adopted at a meeting of the RA government on December 9 in a non-negotiable manner.
As stated in the background to the document, the decision was made due to the need to develop the diamond industry, which is a strategic sector for the Republic of Armenia, to provide diamond companies with efficient raw materials, to promote diamond companies in the EAEU and in third countries, and to attract additional funding for the further development of the sector. It is also noted that the decision will allow introducing a new format of work with the Russian ALROSA company, attracting investors to the sector, as well as supporting new Armenian companies.
The authors of the bill note that the development of the diamond industry in the Republic of Armenia has always been conditioned by fruitful cooperation with the Russian ALROSA company, the world's number one producer of rough diamonds. "Given the significant changes in the policy of selling rough diamonds to the Russian company ALROSA over the past ten years, effective rough is sold exclusively to large companies under long-term contracts. Armenian companies are practically unable to import efficient rough from ALROSA, since they do not meet the standards set by ALROSA. The problem is that in order to conclude a long-term cooperation agreement with ALROSA, a diamond processing company must commit to purchasing a certain amount of rough on a monthly term. Our enterprises do not have the opportunity to purchase a certain amount of raw materials every month, but the consolidated demand of Armenian companies can overcome this obstacle, "the document says.
When importing and supplying raw materials to local companies, state-owned companies also solve problems related to the observance of the principle of equality between companies, in particular, companies with different capacities, as well as problems of quotas for processing and export. Moreover, as the initiators of the decision noted, as a result of preliminary negotiations with the ALROSA company, it became clear that cooperation with a company with state participation is more acceptable for them. "The goal of the company is to increase this demand, to satisfy it by joint purchase or sale to local producers, for which the company will perform the function of financial intermediation, which will be fixed in the charter," the decision notes.
The CJSC will act as a structure for consolidating demand with the following mechanism: The company enters into contracts with diamond companies operating in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, in accordance with which these companies submit applications to the Company, pay it, on the basis of which the latter will supply the rough purchased from ALROSA to the beneficiary companies.
To cover the costs of Hay-Almast and ensure a minimum profit for intermediary services provided to diamond companies, a commission is charged, which is approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company. The company's board will include one or two representatives proposed by existing diamond companies.
According to the estimates of the initiator of the establishment of the CJSC, the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia, this decision will increase the production and export of diamonds by an average of $ 150 million a year. The number of people employed in the field can be increased to 5 thousand people, the number of operating large enterprises - up to 20-25.
It should be reminded that earlier AmrInfo, referring to Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan, reported that to promote the interests of local jewelers, it is planned to establish a state- owned Hay-Almast company The head of the Ministry of Economy said that the processing of precious metals and precious stones in 2021 compared to 2019 increased by 70%. This, according to the minister, was achieved largely thanks to the efforts of the department headed by him. "We have used protection tools to protect Armenian jewelers in the EAEU market, have used improved sourcing opportunities - we are currently establishing the state-owned Hay-Almast CJSC, which should become a buying alliance for all diamond processors," he said.
