How sanctions on Russia will change the diamond trade

Russia’s diamond industry is under pressure. On January 1st the G7, a group of rich countries, and the European Union banned imports of rough diamonds mined in Russia—a third of the total extracted worldwide in 2022. On January 3rd the EU added Russia's state mining company, and its chief executive, to its sanctions list. This is the first phase of a comprehensive sanctions scheme: in March the G7 and EU will ban Russian gems that have been cut and polished abroad. In September they will introduce a certification scheme to verify where diamonds were mined. These measures add up to…