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 Bloomberg Last year Russia was the world's No. 1 diamond producer, government data show. |
Friday, December 24, 2004. Page 5.
Russia Lifts Veil on Diamond Secrets
Combined Reports
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The government lifted the veil on Russia's production and trade in uncut diamonds for the first time on Thursday, paving the way for it to take the chair of a body charged with stamping out trade in so-called blood diamonds.
On Jan. 1 Russia is due to take over from Canada the chair of the Kimberley Process, which aims to keep track of diamonds to stop them being used to fund wars.
Moscow had to release production and export data, previously a state secret, before taking the position.
A Finance Ministry statement said Russia produced 17.763 million carats of uncut diamonds in the first half of this year worth $948 million, and 33.019 million carats worth $1.676 billion in the whole of 2003.
"Russia ranked first in the world by physical diamond output volumes in 2003, and second after Botswana by value of produced diamonds," the statement said.
"In 2003, Russia ranked second after the European Union by physical diamond exports volumes and first among the diamond-producing countries. It was the seventh-largest exporter by value."
According to the data, Russia exported 37.831 million carats of uncut diamonds worth $883.4 million in the whole of 2003. It exported 23.623 million carats of diamonds worth $826.37 million in the first nine months of 2004.
Russia imported 33,164 carats of uncut diamonds in 2003 worth $18.3 million in 2003, and 131,513 carats worth $59.03 million in the first three quarters of 2004.
Main buyers of Russian diamonds are the European Union and Israel. The EU is the main supplier of diamonds to Russia.
(Reuters, Bloomberg)