Chairman of the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) Shmuel Schnitzer and Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) President Yoram Dvash met with Sergey Ivanov, President of Alrosa, for the first time since he became Chief of the giant Russian miner in March. Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association President Kobi Korn was also invited, but was unable to attend for personal reasons.
The meeting, held in Moscow, was also attended by Alrosa VP Andrey Polyakov and Head of International Industry Relations Department Peter Karakchiev. Dvash and Schnitzer congratulated Ivanov on his new post, and asked that Alrosa increases the supply of rough and polished diamonds through its tenders in Israel.
“We perceived a readiness to heed to our suggestions”, IDI Chairman Schnitzer said after the meeting, “Alrosa President Ivanov will visit the IDE in September for the first time, and we will resume our discussions there”.
During the meeting, the attendees also discussed the DPA’s increased marketing budget for 2017 – from $6 million previously to $57 million this year. “We congratulated Ivanov on his contribution to the DPA’s decision to increase its budget”, Schnitzer added. “We stressed the importance of generic diamond marketing, an issue that has suffered from under-exposure in recent years while other luxury goods enjoyed increased marketing exposure”. As for taking part in the financing of the DPA’s campaigns, Dvash and Schnitzer promised they will strive to promote a financing program through the member bourses of the WFDB.
