In a separate meeting between the Alrosa president and Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) president Avi Paz, Nichiporuk confirmed that the Israel representative office will soon function in a commercial capacity. A spokesman for Avi Paz said that Nichiporuk expressed interest in expanding Alrosa’s offices to the new diamond exchange building. At the conclusion of the meeting, Nichiporuk accepted Paz’s invitation to attend the next World Diamond Congress due to take place in Israel from June 26 to 29, 2006.

ALROSA will supply rough diamonds directly from its Ramat Gan office to clients in Israel, according to the Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association (IsDMA) though an exact timeline for Alrosa’s rough distribution is not yet publicized. At a meeting that took place between IsDMA and Alrosa on December 22, the two sides discussed the logistics of increasing Alrosa’s direct rough supply to buyers in Israel.

The first stage of the process will see Alrosa holding rough diamond tenders at its Ramat Gan representative office. Alrosa changed its business strategy and plans to sell approximately 60% of the company’s rough diamond production directly to its loyal customer base, according to IsDMA.

The Alrosa delegation was headed by company president Alexander Nichiporuk. Israel’s delegation included president of IsDMA Moti Ganz, deputy president David De-Toledo, Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) chairman Simcha Lustig, IDI vice president ShlomoYuval, Israel diamond controller Shmuel Mordechai and managing director of IsDMA, Moti Bessar.