Media: G7 countries want to limit supplies of Russian diamonds from 1 carat

The Group of Seven (G7) countries do not object to Indian cutters purchasing Russian diamonds, but want to limit the import of cut stones of Russian origin weighing one carat or more. G7 representatives visited Mumbai and Surat (80% of the world’s diamonds are cut in the city) at the end of September, writes The Economic Times.

Bharat Diamond Bourse President Anoop Mehta said the G7 is exploring ways to help the Indian diamond industry comply with G7 sanctions on Russia with minimal or no violations. According to him, a number of protocols developed by various countries are now being studied to ensure traceability of the origin of the stones. After this, two more rounds of negotiations with the G7 will take place.

The G7 includes the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.

At the end of March 2022, the UK authorities imposed sanctions on Alrosa, which supplies about a third of the world’s rough diamonds. In April of the same year, the United States, Canada and Australia imposed sanctions against the company. The EU in March introduced a ban on the import of luxury goods including precious stones. In May of this year, President of the European Council Charles Michel said that the EU plans to limit trade in Russian diamonds. In mid-September the media reportedthat the G7 countries will announce an indirect ban on the import of Russian diamonds within two to three weeks.

Last September, Bloomberg wrote that the global gem market was divided into two camps due to sanctions against Alrosa: a group of buyers from India and Belgium were secretly buying large volumes of diamonds mined in Russia on favorable terms, while many Western companies trying to abandon Russian products.