On September 27, 2008, YAPTA, a Yakut diamond trading company, held a round-table powwow dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the jewelry industry in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) attended by government authorities, top executives of jewelry enterprises and scientists. They summarized the development of the cutting and jewelry industries and also discussed the problems existing in the rough and polished diamond complex of Yakutia.
The history of the republic’s jewelry industry started on September 28, 1988, when Glavalmazzoloto of the USSR (a Soviet government administration for precious metals and diamonds) issued an order to transfer the Yakut Jewelry Plant, which was subordinate to the Ministry of Instrument Engineering and Automated Control Systems of the USSR, to PO Yakutzoloto, a production association. During this period, the jewelry industry of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) turned into an outstanding branch in local production. The Yakut jewelers’ craftsmanship and the quality of their products are highly valued by Russian and foreign connoisseurs and experts. While in 1988 the Yakut Jewelry Plant employed 36 people, now there are 3,000 people engaged in jewelry production and 2,000 of them are working in retail trade.
Along the four big jewelry companies in Yakutia - OAO Zoloto Yakutii, OOO Sakhayuvelir, OOO Dragotsennosti Yakutii and OAO Aldanzoloto, which account for more than 90 percent of jewelry produced by the republic, - there is a growing number of small and medium jewelry makers. Currently, the State Inspection of Hallmarking for the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) registered over 180 jewelry workshops and self-employed entrepreneurs, as well as 270 outlets selling jewelry.
In recent years, there was a growing rate in output and sales of jewelry (Table 1), which was self-explanatory as far as the industry state was concerned.
Table 1
Output and Sales of Jewelry in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in 2002-2007
million roubles
|
Year |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
|
Output |
505.8 |
579.9 |
577.4 |
575.8 |
577.1 |
685 |
|
Sales |
538.2 |
664.5 |
748.2 |
719.2 |
776 |
838 |
In 2007, the republic produced a total of 685 million roubles worth of jewelry, while in the first six months of 2008 OAO Zoloto Yakutii alone churned out 260 million roubles worth of jewelry. The 2002-2007 total sales increased 55 percent, from 538 million roubles to 838 million roubles, while the jewelry sales forecast for 2008 is 923 million roubles.
During the 20 years, the enterprises belonging to the jewelry industry paid over two billion roubles of taxes to the state budgets of various levels, and one half of this amount was paid in the period from 2002 to 2007. Annually, the republic turns out almost two tons of silver and gold jewelry (Fig. 1).
According to the data released by the State Inspection of Hallmarking Supervision for the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
At the round-table discussion it was emphasized that the jewelry industry in Yakutia was an accomplished matter despite all the difficulties of the past years – the restructuring period, default, rough price growth and world financial crisis – owing to the state sovereignty of the republic.
It is symbolic that the Declaration of Sovereignty was also passed during these days exactly 18 years ago – on September 27, 1990.
Yuri Danilov, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Rough and Polished Diamonds Complex Economy, Institute for Regional Economics of the North (Federal State Scientific Entity)
