ARMENIA’S DIAMOND EXPORTS BADLY HURT IN 2009, SHOWS SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT
Edahn Golan

IDEX
ews.asp?id=33730
March 1 2010

Armenia exported 70,600 carats of cut diamonds in 2009, a 70 percent
drop compared to 2008, Interfax reported. Armenia’s imports of rough
diamonds fell 30 percent to 102,000 carats.

The country’s diamond industry was hurt by the decline in global demand
for diamond jewelry, an outcome of the economic crisis, according to
Gagik Kocharian, a senior trade official at the Armenian Economics
Ministry.

Armenia sources its rough diamonds from Belgium, Russia and Israel,
according to the report.

Signaling a turnaround in the global economic situation, Armenia
imported 20,000 carats of rough diamonds in January. By comparison, the
country imported some 17,000 carats a month in the January-September
period of 2009.