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Russian diamond market collapse unlikely, expert says

This can be a search for new selling markets in countries of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and methods of circumventing sanctions, Mikhail Gordienko said

MOSCOW, November 16. /TASS/. Sanctions against Russian diamonds mulled by the West may affect the global market of such gems but the collapse of the Russian market is unlikely, associate professor of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics told TASS.

The Bloomberg news agency said on November 15, citing documents of the European Commission, that the EU wants to ban Russian diamonds since January 1, 2024 as part of the 12th package of sanctions.

"Although introduction of sanctions can materially influence the global diamond market, the Russian diamond market crash is of low probability, considering its significant share of the global market (up to 1/3 of the global offer). Russia as the largest supplier of diamonds will take and is already taking required efforts to soften consequences of sanctions," Mikhail Gordienko said.

This can be a search for new selling markets in countries of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and methods of circumventing sanctions, the expert said.

It should also be noted that implementation of sanctions will be challenging, he said. Significant technical difficulties are in place when determining the origin of cut diamonds, Gordienko added.

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