The decision by ZAO ALROSA to refuse from the exemption from VAT exemption on sale of diamonds on the domestic market from 01.01.2008 caused a very pathetic reaction of Russian cutters. According to the representative of Leviev Group, "the implementation of this requirement will mean the end of the Russian lapidary industry," the Yakut colleagues are especially grim: "this unilateral decision of the management of ALROSA will lead to the already half-dead lapidary enterprises of the republic and the country to death." The meaning of such "obituaries" is simple: since 2008, for raw diamonds, they will have to pay 18% (this is the VAT rate) more, and although later these expenses should be reimbursed from the federal budget, the lapidary enterprises should find somewhere additional working capital, and with them In Russia there is a big problem,

At the same time, ALROSA's initiative is not revolutionary, but it is only a return to the practice of the 1990s, when Russian lapidary enterprises paid VAT when buying raw materials, even at a higher rate of 20%. Recall that the law, which exempts from VAT imports of diamonds to Russia and the turnover of diamonds on the Russian domestic market, was adopted in July 2000. The motives of this decision, declared by the lobbyists, were the best. It was argued that the law would allow Russian granite enterprises access to world resources of rough diamonds and thus ensure their full utilization, the working capital will not be diverted to pay VAT and can be used for additional purchases of raw materials, and in general the production and export of Russian diamonds will significantly increase . Long-term experience has shown, That as a whole these hopes were not justified. Few Russian cutters hastened to take advantage of the possibility of tax-free imports - only Smolensk "Crystal" became one of the sightholders of De Beers, but buys from this corporation no more than 5-7% of the required amount of raw materials. Deliveries of raw materials for imports increased by a few percent, but the cutters habitually continued to complain about the chronic shortage of raw materials. The problem of working capital was also not solved by this law - with VAT sold diamonds or without VAT, but the size of the refinancing rate was making and making a loan in Russia at times more expensive than in Belgium, Israel, the United States and India, so enterprises with Russian capital working at Russian Loans, a priori are not competitive in comparison with their counterparts in traditional cutting centers,

Exemption of domestic Russian diamond turnover from VAT essentially solved the only problem - rough diamonds in the domestic market are cheaper than in the world market. Therefore in Russia tolling and export of raw materials by gray and black schemes flourish - these "directions" of the domestic granular business give the highest rate of profit. Moreover, such a result of the corresponding legislative initiatives was predicted back in 2000. At the plenary session of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, held on June 23, 2000, the deputy from the RS (Y) Vitaly Basygysov pointed out that the VAT exemption of diamonds sold on the domestic market is support for "Israeli-Belgian capital", i.e. Lapidary enterprises owned by foreign owners, and proposed an amendment to the law, which replaced "VAT exemption" with "zero VAT rate".

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