Russian diamond-mining company Alrosa added to EU sanctions list

by Tamanna Bhasin | January 10, 2024 12:49 pm

The sanction is part of a larger scale, internationally co-ordinated ban against Russian diamonds. Photo © Bigstock

Following the implementation of a 12^th package of economic sanctions against Russia—including a robust ban on direct or indirect import, purchase, or transfer of diamonds (natural, synthetic, and in jewellery) either originating from Russia, exported from Russia, transiting Russia, or Russian diamonds processed in third countries—the European Union (EU) has imposed a more specific sanction.

While the newest sanctions package—announced on Dec. 18 and put into place as of Jan. 1—addresses Russian diamonds as a whole, the newest EU measure places Russian diamond-mining company Alrosa and its CEO, Pavel Alekseevich Marinychev, on a sanctions list.

The sanction, along with the Group of Seven (G7) nations’ own Russian diamond sanctions, is part of a larger scale, internationally co-ordinated diamond ban—a move to reduce Russia’s diamond revenue as a result of their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

As per a statement released by the EU, “Alrosa is the largest diamond-mining company in the world, owned by the Russian state and accounts for over 90 per cent of all Russian diamond production, and the company constitutes an important part of an economic sector that is providing substantial revenue to the government of the Russian Federation.”

Source URL: https://www.jewellerybusiness.com/news/eu-adds-russian-diamond-mining-company-alrosa-to-sanctions-list/