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Dmitry Amelkin, General Director of Kristall said during a recent meeting with Alexei Ostrovsky, Governor of the Smolensk Region that funding for the technological development of the company’s diamond manufacturing plant have been increased from 100 to 120 million rubles within the investment program developed jointly with ALROSA and that these funds are already used to buy new equipment which will be installed around the middle of this year. This was announced in a report published on the website of the Smolensk Region Administration.
Dmitry Amelkin also said that Kristall, which employs 1,200 people, is currently operating on a regular, five-day basis. “Due to the recovery in demand in the world jewelry market at the end of last year, we managed to load production capacities by almost 100% through joint efforts. We assume that the assortment and quantity of goods will remain unchanged throughout the year, which will allow us to keep the number of employees at the same level,” he added.
Dmitry Amelkin informed the governor that the plant's management keeps the situation regarding the spread of coronavirus among employees under special control - at present, all anti-epidemic safety requirements dictated by the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Protection and Welfare are being observed at production sites.
According to the report of the Smolensk Region Administration, Kristall acquired by ALROSA from Russia’s Federal Property Management Agency in 2019 for 1.9 billion rubles was idle during the spring and summer of 2020 due to a slump in demand for diamonds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic due to which part of the Kristall personnel was retrenched. However, there came positive shifts in the global jewelry market at the end of the third quarter last year and the diamond trade began to recover.
Kristall, founded in Smolensk in 1963 and now part of the ALROSA Group, remains to be the largest diamond manufacturer in Russia and Europe.
Vladimir Malakhov, Rough&Polished
