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  • Diamonds funding Armenian forces

    Diamonds funding Armenian forces
    By John Helmer

    Mineweb.com
    '03-JUN-05 07:39'

    MOSCOW (Mineweb.com) -- According to a report just issued in Moscow by
    the Civil Research Council (CRC), illegal diamond trafficking between
    Russia, Armenia, and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is growing fast,
    and is the principal source of funding for the armed forces of the
    Armenian-based republic in its long-running conflict with neighbouring
    Azerbaijan.

    Russian researchers, as well as international monitors of the
    Kimberley certification process, believe there are links between
    Armenians trading in arms and diamonds in the conflict zones of west
    and central Africa, diamond manufacturers in Israel, and Armenians
    fighting to defend the Nagorno-Karabakh territory.

    With full control over Shogakn, the largest diamond-polishing
    enterprise in Armenia, Lev Leviev, the Israeli diamantaire, says he
    is not involved in any diamond cutting operations in the conflict
    zone between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The rough for his Armenian plant
    comes mainly from Africa through Israel, according to his spokesman.

    Leviev acquired Shogakn when the state-owned diamond holding of Amenia
    was broken up and privatized. According to his spokesman, he invested
    about $3 million in new equipment, and currently employs 1,500 cutters
    to produce about 30,000 carats per month. Annual turnover, according
    to Leviev's spokesman, is about $150 million, making Shogakn one of
    the largest diamond-cutting plants in the world.

    The Shogakn management is constantly on the alert to deter and stop
    attempts at running smuggled goods through the cutting works, the
    source added.

    Potential diamond-cutting capacity for Armenia as a whole, where
    about 50 enterprises are reported to employ about 5,000 cutters, is
    estimated at 2 million carats per annum. In all, diamonds and diamond
    jewellery comprise the single largest export earner of Armenia,
    worth about $300 million in 2004.

    Without citing its sources by name, the CRC report claims that other
    Armenian-based firms are supplying rough to cutting enterprises across
    the border in Nagorno-Karabakh. Among these operations, the report
    names Lory, which employs about 1,000 cutters and is linked to the
    Arslanian group of Antwerp; and DCA, controlled by Gagik and Araik
    Abramian, who are linked to De Beers in Moscow. According to the CRC
    director, Sergei Goriaenov, the Arslanian and Abramian groups are the
    biggest of the diamantaires involved in Nagorno-Karabakkh. Diamondtech,
    employing 800 cutters, and funded by Rosy Blue of Antwerp, is also
    reported to be operating in Armenia proper.

    For stones moving to Nagorno-Karabakh, Kimberley certificates are
    provided on the Armenian side of the frontier. But according to the CRC
    report, the extent of the processing of diamonds in Nagorno-Karabakh,
    and the destination of the goods, are still unclear.

    The CRC emerged a few weeks ago in Moscow, identifying itself as
    independently funded, with special interest in researching the links
    between the diamond industry of Russia and terrorist or criminal
    groups in the Caucasus.
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