The European Union on January 3 imposed sanctions on Russia's state-run diamond giant Alrosa and its CEO as part of a ban on imports of the precious stones over the Ukraine war. The EU in December agreed to prohibit diamonds exported from Russia as it tightens sanctions to further sap the Kremlin's coffers. The 27-nation bloc added Alrosa, the world's largest diamond-mining company, and its chief executive, Pavel Marinychev, to a blacklist subject to a visa ban and asset freeze in the EU. Alrosa accounts for 90 percent of Russia's diamond production, which totaled around $4 billion in 2022.
