The US government has added two more diamond companies to its sanctions list, including Kristall, Russia’s largest diamond manufacturer. Kristall, which was acquired by Alrosa in 2019 for $29 million, processes over 200,000 carats of rough diamonds annually. Last week, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Kristall as a Specially Designated National (SDN), marking it as the fourth Alrosa-related entity to face sanctions.
Previously, OFAC had sanctioned Kristall’s current CEO Pavel Marinychev, as well as former CEO Sergey Ivanov and the Alrosa mining company itself in 2022.
In addition to Kristall, OFAC has sanctioned Miuz Diamonds, the second-largest diamond-jewelry manufacturer in Russia, based in Moscow. Miuz, known for its fancy and high-end diamond cuts, was acquired by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev in 1992. The company is part of the Ruis Diamonds group.
These sanctions are part of a broader action targeting nearly 400 individuals and entities connected to or operating in Russia. This includes previous sanctions on Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, a major producer of copper, zinc, and gold in Russia.
Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury, stated, “Russia has turned its economy into a tool in service of the Kremlin’s military-industrial complex. Today’s actions by the Treasury continue to uphold the commitments made by President Biden and his G7 counterparts to disrupt Russia’s military-industrial base and its supply chains.”
