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Armenian parliamentarianâ€™s company smuggles Russian rough diamonds through uncontrolled Azerbaijani territory Nagorno Karabakh

10 October 2008 14:51 (UTC +04:00)

Kikinashvili could not present any document for the case. He said the smuggled goods were worth $200,000, but Israeli experts determined that the illegal load was worth over $1 million. The rough diamonds were confiscated, Kikinashvili was sentenced to house arrest.
APA reports that later some information agencies quoting to Israeli police reported that Kikinashvili was the head of â€œArtsakh Diamondâ€ Armenian company and the smuggled rough diamonds were of Russian origin. It is also reported that Kikinashvili went to Sierra-Leone, Congo and Angola many times and bought rough diamonds for DCA (Diamond Company of Armenia) owned by Armenian MP Gagik Abramyan. Kikinashvili reportedly holds 15% of the shares of Artsakh Diamond registered in Khankendi, the main owner of the company is DCA. Artsakh Diamond is considered to be the modernization of Gagik Abramyanâ€™s projects on improving lapidary industry in â€œNagorno Karabakh Republicâ€, which started with the establishment Andranik Daskh company in 2002. These projects also attracted Armenian rough diamond dealers, because the rough diamonds taken to the territory of â€œNagorno Karabakh Republicâ€ automatically disappeared from the legal diamond market and it was easy to spend the money profited from their sale on buying weapons for security agencies of â€œNagorno Karabakh Republicâ€. Unrecognized â€œNagorno Karabakh Republicâ€ is not the member of The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme â€“ the process designed to certify the origin of rough diamonds from sources which are free of conflict and does not report to anyone about diamond dealings in its territory.
Although Kikinashvili was detained with Russian diamonds, it was not difficult to find out the sources of diamonds. The large Russian diamond refinery â€œCrystalâ€ signed memorandum with the Armeniaâ€™s DCA Company in March, 2008, which obliged the Russian company to send 500 thousand dollars worth of small diamonds to Armenia every month. The company argued its action with unprofitability of saving such diamonds in Russia. Russian newspapers wrote last summer about â€œCrystalâ€ sending the first part of diamonds to Armenia and refining it there. However it became clear later that the Russian diamonds sent to Armenia were found in the Kikinashviliâ€™s bag in Israel. It becomes clear that Artsakh Diamond firm was involved in the diamond trading between Russian â€œCrystalâ€ and Armeniaâ€™s DCA. It is not ruled out that chairman of Russian Armenians Council Ara Abramyan, brother of Gagik Abramyan, played a role in establishing ties between DCA and â€œCrystalâ€. The Russian diamonds go to the â€œblack marketâ€ via this mechanism and turn into the unregistered cash money. Volume and cost of the diamonds found in the Kikinashviliâ€™s bag are fully equal to the two lots sent by â€œCrystalâ€ to DCA. He has no right for any official deal in Israel because he is not a member of Israelâ€™s diamond bourse. Identity of his clients is not clear yet, but it is absolutely clear that the diamonds are interested not only the business-like people as a â€œreal currencyâ€, but also Hezbollah and Hamas representatives.