The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued a new general license that allows the import of certain categories of diamonds despite sanctions against Russia.
This license allows the following types of diamonds to be imported into the country until September 1, 2026:
- weighing 1 carat or more (if they were outside Russia before March 1, 2024);
- weighing from 0.5 carats (if they were outside Russia before September 1, 2024).
An important condition is that after these dates, diamonds were not to be exported or re-exported from Russia.
Despite this, the import of non-industrial diamonds of Russian origin remains prohibited. The license also does not allow other actions prohibited by sanctions rules, such as transactions with people on the sanctions list.
- In February 2024, when Joe Biden was president of the United States, Washington imposed sanctions on the import of non-industrial diamonds of Russian origin. The ban came into effect on March 1, 2024 (for some categories of diamonds, from September 1).
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