TOKYO, March 1. /TASS/. Tokyo has tightened restrictions on the import of Russian diamonds for non-industrial use, banning supplies not only directly from Russia, but also from third countries, the Japanese Foreign Ministry announced.
Japan announced plans to ban the import of diamonds for non-industrial use from Russia on December 15 last year, the relevant ruling came into force on January 1 this year.
As part of the new sanctions, it is stressed that a ban will be introduced on the import of Russian non-industrial diamonds, even if they were processed outside of Russia.
On Friday, Japanese authorities expanded sanctions lists against Russia due to the situation in Ukraine. They included 12 individuals and 36 entities from Russia. In particular, the sanctions affected the ombudsmen of a number of Russian regions, individuals from Chechnya, as well as such companies as the Kalashnikov concern, Almaz-Antey, Uralvagonzavod, Atomflot and Tinkoff Bank.
Japanese sanctions, which were introduced in several stages due to the situation in Ukraine, already affect more than 1,000 people and over 120 entities from Russia. To date, the assets of Alfa Bank, VTB, VEB.RF, Novikombank, Otkritie Bank, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank, Sberbank, Sovcombank, as well as about 40 other organizations and companies have been frozen. In addition, Japan has approved a list of goods and technologies prohibited for export to Russia, which already contains about 800 items. In particular, the export of cars worth more than 6 million yen (about $43,000) was prohibited. From August 9, 2023, Japan also banned supplies of gasoline and diesel cars with an engine capacity of more than 1.9 liters and hybrid cars to Russia.