Starting March 1, the United States will ban imports of ungraded diamonds and diamond jewelry from Russia. writes about this RIA News.
In addition, G7 countries will begin to impose gradual restrictions on the import of Russian diamonds processed in third countries with the onset of calendar spring.
The US Treasury announced restrictions from the US at the beginning of February. The ban on products imported from the Russian Federation also applies to diamond jewelry and ungraded diamonds. Starting from March 1, US authorities ban the import from Russia of non-industrial diamonds weighing more than 1 carat, and from September 1, more than 0.5 carats. The ban also affects products with Russian diamonds, even if they are cut in third countries.
Starting March 1, G7 countries will gradually begin to limit imports of diamonds from Russia processed in third countries. A monitoring and certification mechanism is planned to be put in place by September to monitor restrictions, with Belgium taking a leading role in imposing sanctions in the city of Antwerp, home to the world’s largest diamond trade and processing centre.
Artem Studennikov, the first director of the European department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, warned that refusal to supply Russian stones could lead to changes in Belgium’s status as the world diamond trading center. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov expressed the view that EU sanctions will not benefit those who impose them and Russia will continue to export diamonds, reshaping sales markets.
Previously at the Ministry of Finance statedThat Russia is developing new markets for diamonds.