The Ministry of Finance will oblige banks to record transactions with diamonds – Kommersant

The Ministry of Finance has prepared a project that, from September 1, 2024, will oblige credit institutions to record transactions with diamonds. This was reported “News” with reference to the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Assay Office. It is assumed that transactions will be recorded in the system for controlling the circulation of precious stones.

It is reported that in this way officials want to control the circulation of stones in order to protect buyers. The Federal Assay Office draws attention to the growing demand among banks for precious stones, which citizens buy as an investment. The Ministry of Finance, in turn, notes that the number of banking transactions subject to control has increased after the abolition of VAT on the purchase of diamonds by individuals.

The control system will include data on the purchase and sale of jewelry with a mandatory identification number for each product. This will allow us to take control of the circulation of diamonds and trace their path even among individuals. Such a mechanism can increase resale value by providing historical transparency. Before September 1, the Ministry of Finance will oblige financial organizations to provide information about the processed diamonds they have.

At the same time, diamond producer ALROSA confirmed that the number of transactions with investment diamonds has more than doubled. The company explained this by the possibility of their buyback by banks. Currently, about 20 Russian banks carry out such operations. The Moscow Exchange also conducts transactions with stones, both in dollars and rubles – this increases interest in transactions.

Read about why jewelers are asking to delay mandatory labeling of products “There’s no time to take tests”.