![]() A third of Alrosa’s shareholding is directly owned by the Russian state, and another third by regional governments – the Russian republic of Yakutia and its administrations, where many mines are located.Īlrosa’s corporate leadership is also closely linked with the Kremlin, and Sergei Ivanov, its chief executive, was specifically targeted by US sanctions. But the silence is striking – and it’s hard not to presume it’s because much of the industry is hoping that this goes away or it’s forgotten.” Close links to the KremlinĪlmost all Russian diamonds come from Alrosa, which says it accounts for 99% of all rough diamonds produced in the Russian federation. “These things take time to settle on new definitions. “The situation with Russian diamonds is that they really became conflict diamonds overnight,” she says – and so far, many major industry groups have remained silent on whether responsible buyers should continue the sourcing. Russian diamonds do not fit the narrowest industry definition of “conflict diamonds”, which refers to those used to fund rebel groups, but Villegas says they clearly fit the spirit of the term. “These are objectively conflict diamonds: they’re funding an armed conflict against a peaceful neighbour, by a state actor,” says Cristina Villegas, director of the Mines to Markets program at Pact, a development NGO. Vladimir Putin visiting the Verkhotina diamond field in north-western Russia.
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