Editor’s Note
This article details the latest EU sanctions targeting Russia’s diamond industry, specifically state-owned giant Alrosa and its CEO. The move represents a significant escalation in economic pressure, extending beyond a general import ban to directly sanction the world’s largest diamond producer.
The European Union is expanding its sanctions against Russia’s lucrative diamond business. Following a general import ban, it is now taking direct action against the Alrosa corporation and its CEO.
An import ban on Russian diamonds has been in effect since the beginning of the year. Now, EU states have imposed additional sanctions against Russia’s state-owned diamond producer Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Marinychev.
Both are now on the EU sanctions list.
Alrosa is the world’s largest diamond mining company and, according to the EU Council, accounts for over 90 percent of Russian diamond production.
In 2021, Alrosa generated revenue equivalent to approximately 3.4 billion euros. Russia is considered the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds.
As early as December, the European Union decided on the import ban for diamonds from Russia. The measure is intended to deprive the leadership in Moscow of an important source of revenue and thereby also limit its ability to finance the war against Ukraine. The EU Commission recently estimated Russia’s revenue from diamond sales at around four billion euros per year.
Due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU has so far imposed sanctions on almost 2000 individuals and organizations. The punitive measures also include travel restrictions. Furthermore, assets held in the EU by those affected must be frozen. It is also prohibited to provide them with money or other economic resources.