Diamond market crash is Africa’s opportunity, not its crisis – M'zée Fula Ngenge

Global natural diamond supply is forecast to fall below 95 million carats this year, the lowest since 1987. For Dr. M'zée Fula Ngenge, chairperson of the African Diamond Council (ADC), this is not a death knell but a clarion call. In an exclusive...

12 october 2026

Tracr passes 5 million rough diamonds milestone as De Beers expands provenance push

De Beers Group's blockchain-enabled traceability platform Tracr reached a significant milestone in 2025, with more than 5 million rough diamonds individually scanned and registered, up from 2.8 million cumulative registrations reported in 2024. The...

28 september 2026

South African diamonds head to Hong Kong: SDT partners with BRINKS for JGW 2026

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14 september 2026

David Benderly: PermaScribe seeks to put trust mark on diamond table, not just girdle

In this interview with Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa, PhotoScribe Technologies president and chief executive David Benderly explains how PermaScribe differs technically from conventional laser inscription, its potential to strengthen security, and...

31 august 2026

The great reset: Paul Zimnisky on supply catharsis, De Beers' bargain and the case for natural diamonds

The natural diamond industry is in the throes of its most profound reset in a generation. Supply is plunging to its lowest level since 1987 and De Beers—once valued at over $9 billion—is reportedly being sold for as little as $1 billion.
Lab-grown...

10 august 2026

New ESG rating of Russian Arctic companies published

25 june 2024

The Arctic Development Project Office and the Department of Environmental Economics of Moscow State University published the Polar Index, the seventh annual rating of Russian companies operating in the Arctic.

The leaders of the rating in terms of the overall sustainable development index were the Norilsk Nickel, T Plus and Rosneft companies. The rating uses a calculation methodology based on 24 indicators reflecting various aspects of sustainable development. All data for calculations is taken from open sources: annual reports of companies and reports on sustainable development, Rosstat data and NSFR reporting.

The rating is compiled based on three components of company activity - economic, social and environmental. In terms of the economic component, the leader was the oil and gas company Gazprom Neft, in the social component - the T Plus energy group, and in the environmental component - the Norilsk Nickel metallurgical company.

“Leading Russian companies developing the Arctic regions care about the quality of life, where environmental well-being is key,” says Sergei Nikonorov, head of the rating project development, professor at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University.

“For example, Norilsk Nickel has achieved impressive results largely due to the launch of the Sulfur Program, a comprehensive project to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. It is important that most Polar Index companies have long-term sustainable development strategies, implement the best available technologies, and increasingly use renewable energy sources.”

The rating covers 23 large public companies operating in the Arctic. Among the participants are 9 oil and gas, 3 metallurgical, 3 petrochemical, 2 energy companies, one diamond miner, one shipbuilder, one service provider and one transport company, as well as the state nuclear energy corporation, and one seaport operator.

Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief, Rough&Polished