The EU banned the import of Russian diamonds from 1 January 2024, while the US, Canada and the UK imposed sanctions against Alros back in 2022.
To circumvent the restrictions, Alrosa created PBK: rough diamonds are first sent to Armenia, where they formally lose their Russian origin, then sold to India, the UAE or China, and eventually they end up in Antwerp, the largest centre of the EU diamond industry.
From January 2023 to March 2024, PBK exported €250 million worth of diamonds, bringing revenue to the Russian budget. The EU itself left a loophole for circumventing sanctions: the system for tracking the origin of stones will be fully operational only from 1 January 2026, and so far only stones weighing less than 0.5 carats are controlled.
