The European Union (EU) has officially imposed sanctions on Russian diamond mining giant Alrosa and its CEO, Pavel Marinychev – nearly two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, IDEX Online reports.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrel announced the sanctions on Alrosa and its CEO through a statement on X (formerly Twitter): “In line with the diamond ban we have introduced with the 12th package of sanctions, the EU today lists Alrosa, the largest diamond-mining company in the world and its CEO.This is part of our coordinated efforts at G7 level.”
The US had previously sanctioned Alrosa in April 2022, followed by the personal blacklisting of CEO Pavel Marinychev in July 2023. This move occurred shortly after Marinychev assumed the role from Sergey Ivanov, who was also subject to sanctions. The European Council, on January 3, announced additional restrictive measures targeting “one person and one entity.”
Russia, on its end, has declared its intent to persist with diamond exports, undeterred by the G7 sanctions that have taken effect starting January 1. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, during a visit to Beijing, recently told Russia’s stance to the news agency Tass: “All these restrictions introduced (by Western countries), they affect not only us alone but also those who introduced them. Exports of diamonds will continue. We will simply redirect sales to other regions. I’m sure this won’t benefit those who introduced these sanctions.”
