The G7 wants to take action against Putin's income from the diamond trade. (Collage of symbolic images) © Collage: Uli Deck/dpa//IMAGO / Russian Look
Russia's diamond trade has so far hardly been affected by the sanctions imposed as a result of the Ukraine war. The G7 want to change that. But Putin's henchmen are unimpressed.
Hiroshima - The group of leading democratic industrialized nations wants to restrict the billion-dollar export of rough diamonds from Russia. A corresponding declaration is to be adopted at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, as several diplomats told the German Press Agency on Thursday.
The measure is another response by the G7 to Russia's war in Ukraine. The aim is to reduce the country's revenues and thus limit its warfare capabilities.
G7 sanctions against Putin's diamond trade?
The diamond trade is an important economic sector for Russia and a significant source of income. 2021. Last year, when the state-owned diamond miner Alrosa disclosed its figures, the company generated 332 billion rubles (about 4 billion euros) in revenue. Russia is considered the world's largest producer of rough diamonds.
So far, however, the EU has not restricted trade. One of the reasons for this has so far been resistance from Belgium. The Flemish port city of Antwerp has been considered the diamond center of the world since the 16th century.
The U.S., Canada and the U.K. had imposed sanctions on Alrosa. According to the outgoing Alrosa general director Sergei Ivanov - son of the eponymous ex-defense minister and close confidant of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin - this has hardly harmed the company's business. The plan for 2022 had been exceeded, and the first quarter of 2023 had also gone well.
Russia's diamond boss sounds: "You can't replace us"
Ivanov expressed optimism that new sanctions will not take effect. "You can't replace us," after all, Alrosa's share of the global diamond trade is about 30 percent, Ivanov said in an interview with the daily Kommersant. Alrosa had countered the previous restrictions, for example in the purchase of Western conveyor technology or banking services, by switching to other service providers.
Details of the new G7 plans were not given by the diplomats on Thursday. A senior official only acknowledged that details still needed to be clarified. For example, it is unclear how India will be persuaded to participate at least indirectly. According to information from Moscow, a large number of diamonds are cut there and the country has not yet participated in the sanctions of the G7.
The "Group of Seven" (G7) is an informal alliance of leading democratic industrial nations. The members are Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada and the USA as well as the EU. The summit of heads of state and government begins on Friday. In addition to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the focus is also on dealing with China and climate protection. (dpa)