Ukrainian ambassador to South Africa explains why developments in diamond market are not in Russia's interests

Botswana and the G7's joint opening of a diamond certification centre in 2025 and the overall development of the diamond market are not in Russia's interests.

Source: Liubov Abravitova, the Ambassador of Ukraine to South Africa and Mozambique and a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Kimberley Process, stated this in an interview with Ukrinform

Details: Abravitova explained that at a Group of Seven summit two years ago, the member countries discussed how they could ensure transparency in the diamond trade and agreed that the certification process should be improved.

According to the Kimberley Process rules, any consignment of rough diamonds must be accompanied on the market by a special document – a Kimberley Process certificate.

This document specifies the country of origin of the diamonds, their weight and value. However, mixed batches, which are formed from rough diamonds from different countries, do not indicate the country of origin.

"Diamond grades and size don't play a role in mixing, but large diamonds are obviously more valuable and easier to trace, so the G7 countries decided to launch an initiative [to improve the certification process – ed.] with them. The task of the diamond verification hubs [Antwerp in Belgium and in 2025, in Botswana] is to encourage traders to provide evidence that the batches do not contain Russian diamonds," Abravitova said.

The ambassador of Ukraine recalled that three years ago, Botswana offered to host the Kimberley Process Secretariat as a body with a permanent staff to ensure the work of this structure in the country.

"Botswana is one of the leaders in the diamond market, but at the same time a country whose economy is still critically dependent on this resource. For Botswana, the decision to join the transparent scheme and form a diamond verification hub on its territory, when a diamond will have, so to speak, a Botswana ‘flag’ and a guarantee of ‘non-Russian origin’, is a conscious choice to avoid additional costs for verification of its own diamonds in third countries. Of course, this development is not optimal for the Russian Federation," said Abravitova to the Kimberley Process.

At the same time, the ambassador urged the public not to be deceived about Russia's ousting from the diamond market and not to celebrate "another victory" too soon.

"This is a process which needs even more active cooperation with all partners, needs explaining why Russian diamonds are really blood diamonds and how this threatens not only the world order but also the organisation itself. After all, it has to be fit for purpose, and today's Russia discredits the Kimberley Process by trying to keep this bull in a china shop unnoticed. It would be more accurate to say that the developments in the diamond market do not meet Russia's interests," the Ukrainian ambassador said.

Support UP or become our patron!