EU Extends Sanctions to Alrosa and Its CEO

The European Union (EU) has placed sanctions on Alrosa and its CEO, Pavel Marinychev, noting that the diamond miner contributes revenue to the Russian government.

The company and Marinychev are “responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” the European Council, which comprises member states’ heads of government, said in a statement Wednesday.

Alrosa, of which Russia owns 33%, accounts for more than 90% of the country’s diamond production, the release added. “The company constitutes an important part of an economic sector that is providing substantial revenue to the government of the Russian Federation,” it continued.

The measures complement an EU ban on Russian diamonds, which the bloc approved in December. The new sanctions target Alrosa and its CEO as a company and an individual.

According to the legal entry in the Official Journal of the European Union, the new rules add Alrosa and Marinychev to a list of people — first compiled in 2014 — whose funds and economic resources are to be frozen. The EU also forbids its citizens and companies from making funds and economic resources available to or for the benefit of the people on the list.

EU sanctions related to the war in Ukraine now apply to almost 1,950 individuals and entities, the council said.