Bloomberg: EU and G7 countries are looking for a way to trace Russian diamonds
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The G7 countries and the European Union are discussing a mechanism for tracking Russian diamonds in order to impose restrictions on their sale in the future, informed Bloomberg citing sources.
According to the agency, the G7 countries may issue a statement next week on this issue, but sources call this decision “not imminent” because it is now extremely difficult to trace diamonds in the international market.
The origin of diamonds is evident when certified under the Kimberley Process, designed to stop the sale of “blood diamonds”. But in trading houses, after polishing and cutting stones, the original certificates can be replaced by a document of “mixed origin”.
In September 2022, Politico, citing the draft sanctions, wrote that the EU could impose sanctions against the Russian group of diamond mining companies.Alrosa“. But in October, EUobserver, citing European diplomats reportedthat the EU member states decided not to include Alrosa in the new sanctions package. The removal of the company from the sanctions list, according to sources, came after Belgian diplomats and lobbyists at the Antwerp Diamond Center warned that a hit on the Russian diamond sector would cost thousands of jobs in the city, home to the world’s largest diamond exchange.
Bloomberg citing an industry source in September informedthat a group of buyers from India and Belgium are secretly buying large volumes of diamonds mined in Russia on favorable terms, while many Western companies are trying to abandon Russian products.
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