Neither energy, nor luxury products, nor one’s own Vladimir Putin. The sanctions on Russian ‘blood diamonds’ have been during these almost two years of war in Ukraine the element that has resisted the Europeans the most. Following in the wake of the United States and the United Kingdom, this Wednesday, the European Union has expanded its punitive list to Alrosathe Russian diamond giant.
“In line with the diamond ban we introduced with the 12th sanctions package, the EU today includes Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond mining company and its CEO. This is part of our coordinated efforts at G7 level to depriving Russia of this important source of income,” he announced Joseph Borrell, head of European diplomacy, through X. The G7 countries already approved sanctions on Russian diamonds in early December and the European Council did the same days later in the latest package. But it was not until today that Alrosa was part of the community restrictions.
The Council has included the company PJSC Alrosa and its CEO, Pavel Alekseevich Marinychev, on its list of restrictive measures for its actions “to undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.” The state-owned company produces more than 90% of Russian diamonds and constitutes one of the golden eggs of Moscow’s coffers.
Few things have been spared these 20 months from Brussels’ punitive steamroller: senior officials, the media, drinks like Vodka, technology products or gold. However, the latest sanctions lists cooked up in the community capital were focused on plugging the holes of their predecessors. That is, to prevent the Kremlin used loopholes and third countries to get around the restrictions. But in December, the EU took a leap forward, circumventing the veto it had long imposed. Belgium.
Russia is the world’s leading exporter of these rough gemstones. Although they have always been on the radar, it had been very difficult for Europeans to include them. ““No more diamonds in Antwerp”Borrell tweeted at the beginning during the first stages of the invasion, in a message that was deleted from social networks shortly after.