The US is widening its sanctions against the Kremlin – and, according to US President Joe Biden (79), ban the import of Russian luxury goods.
In addition to the global export hits of caviar and vodka, this applies above all to the lucrative business with diamonds.
A Putin loyalist now has a high-profile problem: Sergei Sergeyevich Ivanov (41), son of KGB officer Sergey Ivanov (69), a former minister and longtime Putin confidant.
The spy offspring runs the state-backed diamond giant Alrosa, which mines more than 90 percent of Russia’s bling. And they, in turn, make up almost a third of the $79 billion world market – the equivalent of almost €22 billion for Putin’s war chest.
Although the USA imports few diamonds directly from Russia, the oligarchs, according to the calculus in the White House, should be hit hard by the measure.
Foto: picture alliance/dpa
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/in-jakutien-schuerft-der-alrosa-gruppe-diamanten-dc1336b0183646abb5f2633ddcb8893d-79443882/Bild/2.bild.jpg”/> The Alrosa group mines diamonds in YakutiaFoto: picture alliance/dpa
US citizens also have to do without the most successful imported vodka “Russian Standard” and the world-famous Beluga caviar. Its import was only legalized in 2021 after a 15-year ban.
The majority (80 percent) of the caviar traded in the USA comes – of all things – from China.