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G7 to ban direct import of Russian diamonds from January

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G7 to ban direct import of Russian diamonds from January
Rough diamonds sit on a sorting table during the grading process at the Yakutsk Diamond Trading Enterprise (YaPTA), operated by Alrosa PJSC, in Yakutsk, Russia, on Feb. 17, 2016. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries agreed on Dec. 6 to impose a direct import ban on Russian diamonds starting January in a bid to stifle Moscow's revenue during its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is the world's largest diamond producer and earned around $4 billion from the diamond trade last year, helping the country fuel its war against Kyiv.

The announcement comes after months of discussion on cutting Moscow off from this lucrative source of income. Earlier the same day, Canada announced that it is banning the direct import of Russian diamonds "in coordination with its G7 partners."

"Our commitment remains to restrict exports of all items critical to Russia's military and industrial base, including those used on the battlefield, and we call on third parties to take equivalent action," the G7's joint statement read.

"We will introduce import restrictions on non-industrial diamonds, mined, processed, or produced in Russia, by January 1, 2024, followed by further phased restrictions on the import of Russian diamonds processed in third countries targeting March 1, 2024."

To strengthen the measures, those G7 members who are major importers of rough diamonds pledge to develop a verification mechanism to monitor the internal trade by next September.

The G7 countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.S., and the U.K., represent 70% of the world's diamond market.

The ban on Russian diamond sales is reportedly also meant to be included in the EU's upcoming 12th sanctions package.

This measure is meant to target the full spectrum of the Russian diamond trade. If approved, it will take effect on Jan. 1.

That diamond ring? It may have helped pay for Russia’s war
Editor’s note: This story uses sources who are speaking on condition of anonymity since revealing their identities would heavily damage their careers and expose them to legal and personal risks in the diamond industry. Their identities are known to the Kyiv Independent. Top findings: * Despite th…
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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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