The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control put Russian diamond miner Alrosa on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. “Through these designations, Treasury is cutting off additional sources of support and revenue for the Government of the Russian Federation to wage its unprovoked war against Ukraine,” the U.S. Treasury Department explained. According to Statista, a company specializing in market and consumer data, Alrosa maintained a dominant position in global diamond supply back in 2020 (a market share of 27.5%), compared with De Beers (a market share of 23%). In 2021, the diamond miner generated over $4.2 billion in revenue.
Previously, a letter was written by a bipartisan group in Congress calling for closing the loophole of an executive order issued last month that banned U.S. companies from directly importing diamonds from Russia but allowed Russian diamonds cut and polished in other locations to be legally imported into the U.S. If Alrosa is on the SDN list, it means U.S. companies and individuals are prohibited fromdoing business with Alrosa and also giving funds, goods or services to it, and receiving them from the diamond miner.
The Jewelers Vigilance Committee issued member alert regarding the new sanctions on Alrosa. “It is not yet clear how OFAC or U.S. Customs will interpret this new designation, but if a U.S. business continues to deal in these goods, even indirectly, they are at risk for encountering issues upon importation or the freezing of assets,” said JVC. U.S. banks will have to comply with these new sanctions and likely will check with jewellery retailers to ensure compliance.
14-04-2022
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