Brilliant plan: The Ministry of Industry and Trade wants to reset duties on the import of precious stones

In Russia, they want to zero duties on the import of precious stones and create jewelry industrial clusters. These measures are proposed in the draft Strategy for the development of the precious metals industry until 2035. Thus, the authorities want to stimulate domestic demand and investment in mining, which today are not comparable with the possible market capacity. The document is currently being discussed with industry representatives who support it, Izvestia found out. At the same time, representatives of small businesses are unhappy that they were not involved in the discussion.

Why did the authorities decide to regulate the industry

The Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes to zero duties on the import of precious stones into Russia, which are used as inserts in jewelry, and create jewelry industrial clusters. These measures are contained in the draft Strategy for the development of the precious metals industry until 2035, developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The ministry believes that one of the goals of the industry's development should be to increase demand for jewelry products in Russia. According to the Federal Assay Chamber, from 2011 to 2018, jewelry accounted for about 52% of all gold mined. However, the draft strategy states that the jewelry industry is now losing its important role in ensuring sustainable demand for Russian precious metals.

"The decline in the purchasing power of the population, the transformation of consumer preferences, the rising cost of raw materials, as well as prices for imported equipment, components and consumables have led to a structural stagnation of the industry," the document says.

The strategy developers believe that it is possible to change the situation by creating conditions for the development of the jewelry business, as well as increasing the competitiveness of domestic jewelry manufacturers in the domestic market. This should happen, among other things, as a result of lower production costs, as well as brand support to promote our jewelry products to foreign markets.

The draft strategy proposes to zero duties on precious stones imported into Russia, which are used as inserts in jewelry. In addition, it is planned to create specialized jewelry industrial clusters with preferential tax treatment. According to the ministry, they could appear in Kostroma, Yakutia and the Urals, where most jewelry is produced today.

In addition, the document proposes to assist Russian companies in entering foreign markets, including implementing a program to popularize the Russian jewelry brand. The Ministry also proposes to create preferential conditions for Russian manufacturers when selling products through marketplaces.

What is happening to the industry now

As the Ministry of Industry and Trade notes in the draft strategy, the level of precious metals recycling in Russia is currently significantly lower than global benchmarks. For gold, it is about 7-9%, for silver — 15%.

The actual consumption is decreasing. For example, in 2025, gold in the jewelry sector fell by 23% compared to 2024. And it is twice as low as in the early 2010s. According to the draft strategy, the Russian industry also consumes gold to a limited extent — 4 tons per year.

"This reflects the relatively small scale of domestic microelectronics, instrument engineering and other high—tech industries using gold as a functional material," the document says.

As a result, the industrial and high-tech demand for precious metals in the Russian Federation does not match the scale of production and the resource potential of the country. A significant part of the added value is formed outside of Russia, and the domestic economy of the industry remains dependent on the export-raw material model, the Ministry of Industry and Trade concludes.

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The authors of the strategy believe that Russia requires a targeted industrial policy for the formation of domestic high-tech demand. It is expected that if the target scenario is implemented, the share of finished precious metals production in Russia will increase by 2035. In addition, an increase in capacity utilization and a reduction in dependence on technology imports will be a positive factor.

"The strategy for the development of the precious metals industry of the Russian Federation is currently under interdepartmental coordination," the press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia.

The Ministry of Finance informed the editorial staff that following the review of the draft strategy, the agency sent comments and suggestions for its revision.

Izvestia also sent a request to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

How does business relate to the regulation of the industry

The Guild of Jewelers of Russia Association told Izvestia that at a recent business meeting with the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov in Delovaya Rossiya, he reported on the high degree of readiness of the strategy and the department's readiness for the industry to join its discussion.

Chairman of the association, member of the coordinating council of Delovaya Rossiya, Flun Gumerov, told Izvestia that the guild supports proposals to reset the duty on the import of precious stones and create jewelry clusters. According to him, this will enable Russian businesses to compete on equal terms with suppliers of imported jewelry.

Sergei Kashuba, chairman of the Russian Gold Mining Union (which unites leading gold mining and processing companies), told Izvestia that he had not had the opportunity to review this document.

"At the same time, I would like to note that our union supports the idea of developing a strategy for the development of the precious metals industry, especially in the development of the domestic precious metals market and increasing gold consumption in the country," he said.

According to him, this is important because gold production in the country is growing, while domestic consumption is stagnating, which forces domestic gold miners to look for new sales channels for their products.

But the chairman of the National Jewelry Union, Maria Pospelova, said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade did not involve small businesses in the discussion of the document.

— It is good that such a strategy is being prepared. But personally, we do not have enough information in the document on the development of small businesses, which is represented by 20,000 organizations," she explained.

Industrial expert Leonid Khazanov believes that, in general, the idea of developing such a strategy is a good one, as it will help to understand what is happening in the industry and where it should move. According to him, gold mining in Russia is fine, despite the sanctions, but the same cannot be said about consumption, which is more dependent on the jewelry industry. There is currently no growth in demand for the use of precious metals. The strategy, according to the expert, will make it possible to understand what problems exist in the industry and what mechanisms are needed to remedy the situation.