Belgium and India continue to secretly buy Russian diamonds

Bloomberg writes about this, citing informed sources.

Several Belgian and Indian companies continue to buy diamonds from Russia despite Western sanctions imposed on Russia's Alrosa, the world's largest diamond producer.

According to the agency, about 10 companies conclude "secret deals" for the purchase of precious stones for "hundreds of millions of dollars". The largest buyers of Russian diamonds, according to the interlocutors of the agency, are Indian Kiran Gems and Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt. Their representatives did not respond to Bloomberg inquiries.

It is assumed that after cutting and polishing, Russian gems are sent to China, Japan and India, which have not yet abandoned Russian production and together are responsible for about 30% of global demand for polished diamonds, the agency notes. However, tracking the movement of diamonds is almost impossible, so stones from Russia are very likely to end up on Western markets, Bloomberg points out.