G7 countries are discussing a possible ban on imports of Russian diamonds, the portal reports, citing sources among US officials. axis.
According to the US Treasury Department, diamond exports are one of Russia’s ten largest non-energy exports by value. In 2021, Russia exported more than $4.5 billion worth of diamonds. At the same time, the publication states that the measures taken by the US so far have had little impact on the Russian diamond trade. Thus, Washington has so far imposed only personal sanctions against the head of the Alrosa company, Sergei Ivanov, banning the import of Russian non-industrial diamonds into the United States.
The problem, however, lies in the fact that the US ban on imports of Russian diamonds does not include stones that have been “significantly transformed in third countries, for example, by cutting and polishing,” according to Axios. Thus, Russian diamonds cut and polished in India are considered Indian diamonds, which despite the sanctions allowed them to enter the US market. The vast majority of diamonds from the Russian Federation are exported in raw form and then already cut and polished abroad. As such, experts say exempting cut and polished diamonds from sanctions is a “huge loophole” for the Alrosa company, making the current Western sanctions largely “symbolic”.
Also, despite calls from Ukraine and some European countries, the EU excludes Russian diamonds from all anti-Russian sanctions packages. In particular, Belgium, the EU’s largest diamond trading and processing centre, opposes the imposition of such sanctions. According to Belgian experts, such sanctions will only lead to the exit of Russian diamonds from Belgium to the markets of other countries. In addition, they believe in Belgium, it is practically very difficult to determine that certain diamonds are of Russian origin, as they pass through a significant number of countries on their way from the mine to the jeweler.
As such, an unnamed US State Department official said the G7 nations must take “collective and concerted” steps to truly harm the Russian diamond industry. In particular, it is planned to introduce effective methods for tracing the origin of diamonds from Russia. In the future, this may contribute to a complete ban on the import of Russian diamonds into the G7 countries.
Previously, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Sviridenko, the country’s government Works On the restriction of imports of diamonds and rubber from Russia.