India asks US to unfreeze funds of companies suspected of links with ALROSA – Kommersant

India has asked the US authorities to unfreeze $26 million belonging to at least two Indian diamond companies suspected of having links with Russia’s Alrosa, reports Reuters with reference to sources. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) froze the assets of these businesses earlier in the year.

According to the agency, OFAC froze the funds when the UAE-based divisions of unnamed Indian companies tried to transfer them to spend on buying rough diamonds. Whether the money was transferred to ALROSA or to another party is unknown. Affected Indian firms assured the Indian government that the payments were intended “either for Russian businesses that were not sanctioned or for orders completed prior to the Alrosa sanctions,” one source said.

“The government is aware of OFAC’s actions and has started a dialogue on the subject,” one unnamed Indian government source told Reuters. ALROSA and OFAC did not comment on the information.

In the spring of 2022, the US and the EU imposed sanctions against ALROSA. In the first half of 2023, its IFRS net income decreased by 34.5%, to 55.6 billion rubles, compared with 85.3 billion a year earlier. At the same time, ALROSA promised not to reduce the volume of operations despite the sanctions.

Details – in the material “Kommersant” “Diamonds did not notice the sanctions”.

Laura Keffer