Page 141 - RusRPTDec22

new mine, investments will amount to RUB126bn (c$2bn). Head of Yakutia proposed to MinEc to conclude an agreement on the protection and promotion of capital investments for the duration of the project for 20 years. He also added that Alrosa and EVRAZ are developing Timir project (JVs with Alrosa share of 49%, the rest – EVRAZ) with CapEx of RUB100bn (c$1.7bn).
Despite wide-ranging sanctions put in place against Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, diamonds from the country are still flowing freely into the European Union. As the chart using data from the National Bank of Belgium shows, although the trade value had decreased significantly as of August, there was a large spike recorded in June - four months into the war - when almost €400mn worth of diamonds were imported into Belgium from Russia. As reported by The Guardian, although Belgium is the only country in the EU to import any significant volume of diamonds from Russia, and the country itself stating it would not block a ban, pressure to add diamonds to the list of sanctions has so far been resisted - despite calls from Ukraine President Zelenskiy who told Belgium's parliament in March that peace was worth “more than any diamonds”.
141 RUSSIA Country Report December 2022 www.intellinews.com