Photo: Collected
The world's largest diamond trading center in the Belgian city of Antwerp is facing bureaucratic delays and losses due to sanctions against diamonds of Russian origin.
On March 15, a European Commission official told that verifying the origin of diamonds for admission to EU markets within the G7 ban on imports of Russian diamonds would be entrusted to the state-run Diamond Office in Antwerp.
Officials at the Diamond Office demand documentation to prove the origin of each diamond batch and this leads to long delays, extra costs and infuriates clients on Sunday (24 March).
One of the traders also said that delaying a single shipment for two or three weeks costs the industry around $500 million, a burden borne by customers. Meanwhile, a financial adviser said that 10 local diamond companies were already planning to move to the United Arab Emirates or India in light of the new regulations.
The European Union and G7 countries introduced a ban on direct imports of diamonds mined, processed or produced in Russia from January 1. From March 1, the countries are gradually restricting imports of Russian diamonds processed in third countries. Belgium is expected to play a key role in implementing the sanctions.
Messenger/Mumu
