Today, RA President Serzg Sargsyan visited the Lori diamond-cutting company to get acquainted with the problems of one of the most important industries in Armenia and discuss the ways of resolving them. President Serzh Sargsyan held a meeting with Nirav Modi Chairman and Managing Director, Firestone International, multinational diamond and jewelry manufacturing company, India. The company is ready to invest several million U.S. dollars in Armenia.

RA Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan tpold reporters about the details of the Armenian president’s visit to the Lori company. He pointed out that it will be both government and business investments. “Several hundreds of jobs will be opened in a short period,” Minister Yeritsyan said. He added that the annual turnover of Firestone International is U.S. 500m, and it has branches in the United States and Europe.

According to the Minister, Armenian jewelry is highly appreciated worldwide, which is the reason for large companies’ wish to invest funds in Armenia. “The crisis affected the jewelry and diamond industry, but analyses show that the industry is stabilizing,” said Yeritsyan. He pointed out that problems with the purchase of raw materials are arising on the market.

The Minister said that the diamond and gold recovery companies hardly conduct sales now – they expect the crisis to pass to sell their products at higher prices. Minister Yeritsyan pointed out that diamond-cutting companies are now negotiating with the Alrosa Company (Russia) for higher rates of import.