In the first five months of this year, Hong Kong increased diamond imports from Russia by 18 times in annual terms, RIA Novosti calculated based on data from the Hong Kong State Bureau of Statistics.
In January - May of 2024, Hong Kong purchased $657.3 million worth of Russian diamonds against $36.5 million a year earlier. As a result, Russia has become the third main supplier of diamonds to the Asian markets. Russia's share amounted to 12% of all imports against 1% a year earlier.
India remains the leader in diamond supplies to Hong Kong with supplies of $2.9 billion, followed by Israel with $716.6. Both countries do not produce rough diamonds themselves.
Before that, it became known that India had significantly increased purchases of Russian rough diamonds.
On April 13, Director General of the Antwerp World Diamond Center (AWDC) Ari Epstein resigned due to a conflict with the Belgian government over the sanctions of the member states of the European Union and the G7 regarding Russian precious stones. He held this post for 13 years.
Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished
