MOSCOW, August 6. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the creation of a diamond cutting cluster in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and Smolensk Region, according to a decree published on the official portal of legal acts.

"In order to develop the diamond cutting industry in the Russian Federation, I hereby instruct to establish a diamond cutting cluster (hereinafter also referred to as the cluster) in the territories of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Smolensk Region," the document states. The decree is set to take effect on March 1, 2027.

The document also instructs to "designate the Joint-Stock Company Foreign Economic Association Almazyuvelirexport as the operator authorized to prepare findings on the compliance (or non-compliance) of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs with the criteria for inclusion in the register, and to organize interaction between cluster participants and natural diamond mining entities."

Earlier, Pavel Marinychev, CEO of the diamond mining company Alrosa, noted during a meeting with the president that the Smolensk-based Kristall plant would serve as the foundation for the new diamond cutting cluster.