The International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) today elected as its President, Maxim Shkadov, Chairman of the Russian Diamond Manufacturers Association. He replaces outgoing IDMA President Moti Ganz, who has completed two terms in office.

Shkadov, who has a PhD in the physics and technology of diamond processing, has worked his way up in the industry, beginning as an apprentice cutter at Kristalldiam. In 1994, he was appointed director of Smolensk-Taché, a joint-venture diamond cutting and polishing company.

From 1999 to 2004, he served as the Director for Foreign Economic Relations of Smolensk Kristall, the major Russian polished diamonds manufacturer, supervising the company’s sales and marketing. In December 2004, the Kristall board appointed him Director General and CEO of the Kristall Production Company.

Shkadov currently serves as the president of the Smolensk Diamonds Association that unites diamond processing companies in the Smolensk region. He was elected Chairman of the Russian Diamond Manufacturers Association in 2005.