Expert's view on Russia-India ties: Choron Diamond CEO calls for expanding bilateral ties beyond mostly government-to-government affairs to business-to-business levels
How would you, as a CEO of one of the most influential Indian companies in Russia, characterize the current state of the Indian-Russian economic cooperation today?
Indian-Russian relationship has a long history and continues to develop very actively. The current state of Indian-Russian economic cooperation is impressive on governmental level. However, to become more effective, it has to be more intensive on the business-to-business level. Businessmen of both countries should understand the potential of cooperation and make use of the expertise of each other in such specific sectors as the pharmaceuticals, textiles, gems, jewelry and service industry.
What is your general impression of the current Russian business environment as it affects foreign investors’ operations as a whole, and your company in particular, in the country?
It is logical that in the situation of crisis business centralizes and monopolizes, while the number of companies working on the market decreases. And a large number of competitive companies is required for any market to function and develop normally. The participation of individual entrepreneurs will generate new investment flows as well as new technologies. The quickest economic recovery, especially in the situation of a global financial crisis, can be obtained through the government’s stimulation of private companies’ participation in the economy through the provision of tax rebates and capital subsidies to encourage investors to produce value-added products rather than export raw materials. In the current crisis situation, Russia, as any other country, tries to support its manufacturers, but to improve the investment climate in general, it is necessary to attract foreign capital. I hope that the positive tendencies, which have been formed in the sphere of foreign investments during the last years, will continue to develop, notwithstanding the currently negative situations on the global financial markets.
If the Russian government were to approach you for advice on how to improve the investment climate for foreign entrepreneurs, what recommendations would you offer, taking into consideration your personal experience as an investor and a foreign businessman in this country?
I think it would be a good idea to create a separate organ for foreign investors, where all foreign entrepreneurs operating in this country, could come to settle all business issues. Russian businessmen will also gain from this re-organization as they, in their turn, will receive answers more quickly if their problems are handled by a separate department. Some difficulties occur due to the immigration laws, which are, in some ways, much stricter than necessary, and also due to the order of processing entry documents. As a result, bureaucracy considerably slows down business, and this has been discussed many times in the past.
How would you briefly state your company’s key goals on the Russian jewelry market?
Our company started producing jewels in Russia in 2002, and since then, our products have been more and more successful each year. One positive trend in the Russian jewelry market in the recent years is that Russians, who have always eagerly invested in gold, have also now realized that that diamonds and other precious stones are also equally good ways to invest their money as well. I believe that this situation will not change, despite the current crisis. In this connection, the primary goal for us now is to establish a direct contact with consumers, i.e., create a chain of our own retail shops, especially as our volume and level of production will allow us to do so. Besides, we plan to open a jewelry factory in Russia in the non-too-distant future.
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