Moscow: ALROSA President Andrey Zharkov said during International Diamond Week in Israel (IDWI) that the diamond producer is planning to launch marketing programs promoting Russian-mined diamonds. Zharkov is a guest of honor at the event.

Rapaport quoted Zharkov as saying that company will run pilot programs in key markets this year, marking the first time it is engaging in direct marketing of its own.

The move by the diamond producer to rename its Arcos Diamonds Israel office into ALROSA Israel was part of that strategy, he said.

“High-value, competing alternatives have fared better than diamond jewelry over the last decade,” he said during International Diamond Week in Israel. “We all need to increase our marketing effort. Over the next few years, it’s one of the strategic goals of the industry to increase demand at the consumer level.”

The Russian miner is one of seven member companies of the Diamond Producers Association, which is mandated to produce generic marketing on behalf of the industry.

Zharkov noted that millennial consumers were looking for assurances regarding the authenticity of their purchases, and therefore responsible sourcing of diamonds is necessary to protect the supply chain from undisclosed synthetic diamonds.

That is why ALROSA is participating in the Gemological Institute of America (GIA)’s “mine to market” program, Zharkov reported, which achieves the highest level of authentication and information about the entire life cycle and processing of a diamond, starting from mining the gem and ending in jewelry manufacturing.

Zharkov also reiterated ALROSA’s plans to increase production by 5 percent to 39 million carats in 2017.