Moscow hosted the International Jewelry Economic Forum, "Developing the Russian Jewelry Industry and Strengthening its Role on the International Market" held on September 13-14. It was timed to coincide with the centenary of the Russian Jewelers Guild and dedicated to the great jewelers, suppliers to the Russian Imperial Court.
The organizer of the event was the Russian Jewelers Guild and the Chamber of Commerce of the Russian Federation, their partners being the Russian Assay Chamber, National Center for Collecting Artworks, the Artists Union of Russia, OAO Gazprombank, Art Consulting Group and Business Partnership International Club.
The forum was held in the historic building of the Chamber of Commerce in the Ilyinka Street, a noble monument of architecture matching the event. The representatives of the jewelry community from different areas of Russia, Canada, the United States, France, Turkey, Lebanon and India met and discussed the current problems of the industry, international integration between the participants of the jewelry market, vocational training and development of domestic jewelry art.
The Forum was greeted in the welcome speeches delivered by Sergei Glazyev, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation; Anton Siluanov, Finance Minister; Mikhail Shvydkoi, Special Representative of the Russian Federation President for International Cultural Cooperation; Sergei Katyrin, President of the Chamber of Commerce of the Russian Federation; Boris Titov, Ombudsman of the Russian Federation President for Entrepreneurs’ Rights; Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; Zurab Tsereteli, President of the Russian Academy of Arts; Gaetano Cavalieri, President of the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO); Dominique de Blanchard, President of Marchak Jewelry House and others.
The Forum was opened by Yelena Panina, Deputy of the Russian Federation State Duma, Chairman of the RF Permanent Delegation to the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Eurasian Economic Community and Chairman of the Moscow Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, who noted that Russia's accession to the WTO and activity in the integrated area of Eurasia revealed a lot of problems in the industry (for example, the different approaches to metals sampling). In connection with the plans to expand the integrated economic area it is necessary to adapt the legislation of all the countries in the Union to comply with each other; develop model laws as a basis for a regulatory framework to be created; and improve national legislation in order to support domestic producers. She expressed the hope that the platform of the business community and that of the State Duma will "contribute to the solution of problems and provide a basis for sustainable growth in the industry."
Sergey Katyrin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce stressed in his welcoming message that the Forum should demonstrate the uniqueness of the domestic jewelry business history, as well as the current state of the domestic jewelry industry.
Alexander Rybakov, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce said that jewelry art was one of the most important brands adequately representing the modern Russia in the international arena, while jewelry production was one of the high-tech industries effectively using the longstanding traditions of folk art and natural resources of Russia. He also reminded that Russia was the world's largest producer of diamonds, palladium and platinum and one of the world’s major gold miners. According to Alexander Rybakov, growth prospects for the jewelry market are significant because the turnover of precious metals and stones is still no more than 1.5% in the overall the domestic economy, while the jewelry market accounts for less than 0.5%. He also cited the data from the Assay Chamber of Russia: from 2000 to 2012, domestic production of gold products quadrupled in quantitative terms, while imports went up 8 times; at the same time, production of silver jewelry increased 6 and 16 times, respectively. There was a real intervention of low-quality imports into the Russian jewelry market. So far, the ratio of domestic and foreign goods in the jewelry industry is 3:1, but this proportion - at current growth rates - will change in the opposite direction.
The State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Innovation Development and Entrepreneurship will develop a bill promoting the development of the jewelry industry in Russia, according to Victor Zvagelsky, the Committee’s Deputy Chairman. The Committee’s Expert Council included the most proactive members of the jewelry industry. Their findings will form the basis of the bill, which will be submitted to the State Duma. The project is focused on increasing the competitiveness of the jewelry industry, creating transparent rules, guarantees and rights for consumers, lowering the tax burden, generating new jobs in the sector and fighting counterfeiting.
Boris Titov, Ombudsman of the Russian Federation President for Entrepreneurs’ Rights said that the state should provide the most-favoured status for domestic jewelers and promote Russian jewelry goods in the world’s markets.
Andrew Yurin, Head of Russia’s Gokhran, noted the increased attention to integrated development of the industry.
For jewelers it was undoubtedly important to maintain a dialogue with the representatives of the state authorities, ministries and agencies. Igor Kukushkin, Managing Director of the Office for Cooperation with Industry Associations of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE) represented the latter in the work of the Forum. The forum was also attended by Garegin Tosunyan, President of the Association of Russian Banks; Igor Vdovin, Co-Chair of the RUIE Committee on State and Private Partnership and Investment Policy; Gagik Gevorkyan, Chairman of the Russian Jewellers Guild; Alexander Markin, Head of the Russian Assay Chamber; Flun Gumerov, President of Almaz Holding; Alexander Akhpolov, Director of the Administrative Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation; Natalia Zolotareva, Director of the Department for State Policy in Personnel Training and Additional Education of the Russian Federation Ministry of Education and Science; Pierre Akelyan, Representative of the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) and Canadian Jewellers Association; Grigory Mazharovski, President of the Ukraine Jewelers Association; as well as other representatives of international and foreign organizations, including those from Canada, United States and also from Russia’s federal agencies.
The keynote report on the State of the Jewelry Industry in Russia was delivered by Gagik Gevorkyan, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Jewelers Guild. He said that the national jewelry business in Russia got its second wind over the past 20 years in the new environment: "We have not only been able to repeat the brilliant achievements of the past, but in some cases surpass them, and now we hope to be recognized as one of the world's jewelry centers". He drew attention to the need for joint development of comprehensive measures to reduce the tax burden on credit and producers of jewelry goods. He noted the historic and artistic contribution of Russian jewelers to the Russian culture and a huge potential of the country’s jewelry industry. "Russia is the world’s 4th largest producer of gold (226 tonnes in 2012), but occupies only the 12th place it terms of jewelry production (only 51 tons of gold are used for manufacturing, while the rest amount is exported). The country’s imports exceed exports 7 times, while high taxes on production, extraction and processing reduce the industry’s competitiveness in comparison with the increasing imports - with lower-quality, safe but cheap goods." Mr. Gevorkyan also urged to increase the attractiveness of domestic products, their credibility and consequently to pay attention to the improvement of marketing tools. He also noted the importance of the personnel problem and that of communication between the government, business and education.
The Forum’s plenary and thematic sessions were attended by top executives of major jewelry companies, as well as by artists, jewelers, art historians, investment market and branding experts and journalists.
The plenary session also dealt with the current issues of legal regulation in the field of precious metals and stones. The participants also discussed preservation and promotion of the best jewelry traditions "as the most important component in the formation of the cultural image of modern Russia."
The Forum’s guests took special interest in the presentation “Russia Beyond the Headline” launched by the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the general international information partner of the Forum. The presentation was run by Yulia Golikova, Deputy Editor, who talked about the possibilities and scope of the project being published in the form of a topical supplement to the 27 well-known newspapers across the world in 16 different languages.
The Forum also had another presentation run by jewelry firm Adamas, a member of the Russian Jewelers Guild, which highlighted the award medals of the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014. The participants had a chance to appreciate the jewelry design of the country’s major sports trophy, the manufacturers of which used a variety of techniques never before applied in the jewelry industry, which attracted the expected interest from the professional community.
After the plenary sessions were over, the Forum continued starting three workshops covering the following topics currently central to the industry: "Works of Jewelry Art. Shaping Investment Attractiveness of Russian Jewelry Goods," "Vocational Education in the Jewelry Industry," "Federal Assay Supervision: Protecting the Rights and Interests of Jewelry Manufacturers, Consumers and the State."
The first workshop was addressed by Konstantin Kryukov (the representative of the well-known Bondarchuk artistic clan), who is also taking part in jewelry design; by Albert Kingsley, the owner of the Saplings Company; and by Peter Aksyonov, jewelry artist. Albert Kingsley highly praised the successful cooperation between Konstantin Kryukov and Jewerly House Estet and spoke about the specifics of investing into jewelry brands. Peter Aksyonov shared his experience in the development of his own brand and the secrets of its promotion. The moderator of the workshop was Denis Lukashin, CEO of Art-Consulting, while Galina Ananyina, General Manager of the National Center for Collecting Artworks and Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Subcommittee for History and Traditions of Russian Entrepreneurship was its supervisor.
During the workshops their participants discussed essential problems arising in the jewelry industry: the role of the State in the development of the jewelry industry; problems of legal regulation in the field of precious metals and precious stones; specifics of modern investment policy in the jewelry industry; preservation and promotion of the best jewelry traditions as the most important component in the formation of the cultural image of modern Russia; prospects for the development of the Russian jewelry industry in the context of globalization and strengthening of international cooperation; introduction of new advanced methods in training and shaping the human resources policy in the jewelry industry.
Great success was enjoyed by the jewelry exhibition "Traditions and Modern Time" organized in the foyer of the Chamber of Commerce Congress Hall representing the current achievements of jewelry Russia: Almaz Holding showcased a silver copy of the Ipatiev Monastery, Jewelry House Estet featured the Snow Queen Necklace, Bouquet Ring and Swan’s Secret Ring (which won the International Jewellery Design Excellence Award in Hong Kong); jeweler Ilgiz Fazulzyanov demonstrated the jewelry pieces, which received top honors during the last international exhibitions in Hong Kong (the Butterflies Collection and the Bullfinches Pendant); and Konstantin Kryukov displayed his Hearts Collection. Their best works were exhibited by Smolensk Diamonds (Sirin, Ringo), the Jewelry Company of Alexei Pomelnikov and other Russian jewelry firms. Also on display were the works by the students of the College of Decorative and Applied Arts named after Karl Faberge and Polytechnic College № 13 named after Pavel Ovchinnikov.
On the following day after the Forum there were held special events, including the visit to the XII International Exhibition of Jewelry and Watch Brands (JUNWEX-Moscow) at the All-Russian Exhibition Centre; the visit to Pavel Ovchinnikov Polytechnic College № 13 and the Jewellery Charity Ball to raise funds to help disabled children.
The Forum proved to become a platform for the development of constructive proposals for the development of the jewelry industry, preserving the best traditions of Russian culture and strengthening of Russia's international image.
Galina Semyonova, Rough&Polished
