US Adds Alrosa-Owned Manufacturer Kristall to Sanctions List

The US government has imposed sanctions on two more diamond companies, including Russia’s largest manufacturer, Kristall. 

The cutting and polishing unit, which Alrosa acquired in 2019 for $29 million, processes more than 200,000 carats of rough annually. Last week, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) named Kristall to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, making it the fourth Alrosa-related entity to receive sanctions.  

Last year, OFAC added current CEO Pavel Marinychev to the list, having put former CEO Sergey Ivanov and the Russian miner itself on the list in 2022. 

OFAC has also listed Moscow-based Miuz Diamonds, the second-largest diamond-jewelry manufacturer in Russia. Part of the Ruis Diamonds group, the company specializes in fancy cutting and high-end ideal cuts of larger diamonds. Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev purchased Miuz in 1992.  

Those two companies are among nearly 400 individuals and entities either within or outside Russia that OFAC targeted last week. Others in the industry have already received sanctions, including Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, one of Russia’s main producers of metals such as copper, zinc and gold. 

“Russia has turned its economy into a tool in service of the Kremlin’s military-industrial complex,” said Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the US Treasury. “[The] Treasury’s actions today continue to implement the commitments made by President [Joe] Biden and his G7 counterparts to disrupt Russia’s military-industrial base supply chains and payment channels.”

Image: Polished diamonds. (Kristall)