(PRESS RELEASE) MUMBAI – Russian diamond mining company ALROSA launched its representative office at Bharat Diamond Bourse, Mumbai, on April 19.
In the grand opening ceremony, the officials – Anoop Mehta, president, Bharat Diamond Bourse; Mehul Shah, vice president, Bharat Diamond Bourse; Milan Choksi, convenor, marketing, GJEPC; and Russel Mehta, advisor to chairman, GJEPC – cut the ribbon, inaugurating ALROSA’s newly acquired Mumbai office, followed by a media meet held at the launch. Addressing the media were Evgeny Agureev, member of the executive committee and director of the United Selling Organization of ALROSA, and Jim Vimadalal, director of the Indian Representative Office.
ALROSA accounts for about 30 percent of the global rough diamond supply, which means at least every fourth stone on the world market has arrived from Russia. Therefore, being the largest diamond miner in the world, ALROSA is keen to deepen its trade relations with the diamond and jewelry market in India and wants to be in sync with the industry to leverage the evolving market opportunities in India.
ALROSA has a long and successful trade collaboration with India. In the new contract period (2018-2020), ALROSA has signed 15 long-term contracts with diamond manufacturing companies in India. ALROSA currently works with more than 140 Indian companies that buy diamonds from the spot market or auctions. As a whole, in CY2017, ALROSA directly supplied diamonds worth almost $700 million to India.
Vimadalal said, “While heading the Indian representative office in Mumbai, my key role and responsibilities would involve suggesting new clients and negotiating deals with them, exploring possibilities of cooperation, solving technical issues of the existing clients, as well as discussing opportunities for marketing and joint initiatives with the trade bodies. Our India office will drive the interactions with the industry stakeholders more efficiently. Going forward, the cooperation between ALROSA and the polished diamond manufacturers in India will continue to grow and opening the representative office in India is a logical step in that direction.”
“The Indian diamond jewelry market has a huge growth potential including strong opportunities to strengthen the demand for diamond jewellery at the retail end. Due to various policies and economic reform initiatives in the country, the trade narrative has changed for the better. The diamond jewelry market in India is developing and, thus we are opening up opportunities for productive cooperation with major retail players”, said Agureev.
ALROSA’s main sales division, the United Selling Organization, is located in Moscow. Besides India, ALROSA also operates trade offices in the key diamond hubs: Belgium, Israel, Hong Kong, UAE, USA.
Jim Vimadalal, Milan Choksi, Russel Mehta, Evgeny Agureev, Anoop Mehta and Mehul Shah.