The EU is preparing to impose a ban on imports of Russian diamonds, which will isolate the world’s largest diamond producer from one of its major markets.
Russian diamonds are not forever available. Said the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
There is a plan to punish Russia’s $4 billion diamond industry. A senior EU official revealed.
Russia produces about a third of the world’s diamonds, the largest single exporter, according to the World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the world’s largest diamond trading center in Belgium.
The Russian diamond ban is part of the 11th package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A year ago, the United States announced that its companies were barred from buying Russian diamonds for non-industrial purposes.
On Friday, the United Kingdom issued a ban decision imports of Russian diamonds along with copper, aluminum, and nickel.
Russian diamond exports reached about $4 billion in 2021. Russia’s total exports were estimated at $494 billion in the same year. Oil and gas accounted for about half of this figure.