DUSHANBE, November 1, Asia-Plus – Almaz-Holding, one of Russia’s largest firms specialized in the wholesale trade of jewelry, will launch a joint venture on producing gold and silver wares, Almaz Asia, in Tajikistan, according to the Ministry of Industry.
A source at the ministry said that all legal issues had been solved and the new joint venture will probably start its activity next year.
“The construction of the new jewelry factory is expected to start already this year,” said the source, “The first floor of the enterprise will house jeweler’s shop.” He noted that the enterprise will use local raw materials to produce jewelries.
The source added that founders of the joint venture are the Russian company and individual person, citizen of Tajikistan.
“It will be the first private enterprise on producing gold and silver wares in Tajikistan,” said the source, “The products will be manufactured with use of the latest technologies.”
According to the Ministry of Industry, Tajikistan has 28 known god deposits containing an estimated 429.3 tons of gold. At present the country annually produces 2.1 tons of gold, most of which comes from the Jilau deposit operated by the Zeravshan Gold Company (ZGC). Only in 1998, Tajikistan produced 3.1 tons of gold.
Almaz-Holding company was founded in the Russian region of Kostroma in 1993 as a firm specialized in the wholesale trade of jewelry. Over the first eight years its activity Almaz-Holding company became the well-developed commercial organization with a complicate inner structure, which keeps in the possession big stock-packages of Krasnoselsky, Kostromskoy Orlovsky jewelry factories and “Topaz” factory (Kostroma). Almaz-Holding has a broad net of wholesale and retail trade organizations and a net of pawnshops in many cities and regions of Russia where are more than 6000 jewelry articles. The main type of activity of Almaz-Holding is the production of jewelries from gold, silver and platinum with insets from precious and gem stones so as table suits and different kinds of dishes from silver and cupronickel.
