This article was originally published in English
The European Union has adopted a new package of sanctions against Russia, which also includes the expected ban on diamond imports
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It's about thetwelfth sanctions package from February 2022: The measures against the Russian diamond sector had been loudly demanded by the Ukrainian government, but were long met with resistance in some European countries.
A ban in three steps
From January 1, 2024, the 27 member states will no longer be able to purchase natural and synthetic diamonds or diamond jewelry directly from Russia unless they are intended for industrial purposes. Until March 1, the import ban will be extended to diamonds of Russian origin cut and polished in other countries.
That is Russia largest rough diamond producer in the world, with over 90% of activities carried out by a single company, Alrosa. In 2021, the year before the start of the war, the country exported diamonds worth around four billion dollars (3.77 billion euros), a value that only fell slightly in 2022.
Due to the special nature of the sector, it was difficult to impose sanctions on diamonds. The diamonds go through several hands until they reach the end customer: for example, the rough diamonds from Russia are usually cut and polished in India and then marketed in Antwerp, Belgium, from where they are shipped to other markets in the world from the United States, to Hong Kong.
This means that a retailer will most likely not be able to determine the exact origin of a particular diamond, making it difficult to distinguish Russian products from others. The European Union and the G7 then developed an international system to trace diamonds along the entire supply chain, from mines to stores.
At the beginning of the month, the G7 announced a three-stage roadmap for 2024, which will also be implemented by the European Union.
– Restrictions apply from January 1st Imports of diamonds mined and processed in Russiaexcept for commercial purposes.
– From March 1, restrictions on the import of Russian diamonds will apply worked in other countries.
– From September 1st, a “robust verification and certification mechanism based on traceability” for rough diamonds is to be introduced in Western countries that are “large importers” of rough diamonds (Belgium in Europe).
The other measures of the twelfth package
Another aim of this package is to close the gaps of another restrictive measure, namely the cap on Russian oil prices, which the G7 countries had set at $60 per barrel. However, thanks to a fleet of “shadow oil tankers” and the services of little-known trading companies, Russia has managed to sell its oil well above this value in recent months, easily circumventing the imposed trade restrictions.
The sanctions will not change the price cap, but will introduce an information sharing system and stricter transparency rules to ensure that global oil sales remain within established thresholds.
The new package contains restrictions for 29 companiesincluding non-Russian ones, are suspected of helping the Kremlin to seize cutting-edge technologies manufactured in the EU, or to produce “dual-use” goods that could therefore be used on the battlefield.
In addition, European companies that export certain sensitive products and technologies abroad must include a clause in their contracts prohibiting re-export to Russia.
The adoption of the twelfth package came a month after the original proposal, after Austria had dissolved its reservations: initially the Vienna government had blocked the agreement due to the inclusion of the package Raiffeisen Bank International on the list of “international war sponsors” drawn up by Ukraine.