The U.S. Treasury has issued new regulations regarding diamonds of Russian origin, allowing the import of loose stones and jewellery created before march 1, 2024, which were outside of the sanctioned country before this date.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two new licenses for the so-called “grandfathered” goods. The first one applies only to diamond jewelry allowing the import of all pieces purchased prior to March 1, while the second one applies to nonindustrial loose diamonds over 1 carat purchased prior to March 1 and over 0.5 carat bought before September 1.
At the same time, the department introduced restrictions against Russian diamond manufacturer Kristall and the Moscow Jewellery Factory (Miuz Diamonds). The former is the largest diamond manufacturer in Russia located in Smolensk and it is a part of the already-sanctioned ALROSA group.
Miuz is a major manufacturer of jewellery with production facilities in Moscow and Perm and a retail chain of 300 stores. Miuz belongs to the Ruiz group of companies, which is owned by Israeli diamantaire Lev Leviev.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
