EU hits Russian diamond producer Alrosa with sanctions

STORY: EU hits Russian diamond producer Alrosa with sanctions SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 3, 2024 DATELINE: Jan. 4, 2024 LENGTH: 00:01:05 LOCATION: Brussels CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Council of European Union Europa building STORYLINE: The European Union (EU) on Wednesday announced sanctions on the leading Russian diamond-mining company Alrosa, as well as on its Chief Executive Officer Pavel Marinychev. Alrosa is said to be the world's largest diamond producer, contributing to 90 percent of Russia's diamond output. The Council of the EU highlighted the company's significance, since Alrosa "constitutes an important part of an economic sector that is providing substantial revenue" to the Russian government. The EU has so far imposed 12 rounds of sanctions on Moscow. Measures under the sanctions include visa bans and asset freezes in the bloc. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, Russia ranked 8th for global diamond exports in 2021, boasting an export value of 4.7 billio