Russia is the largest supplier of rough diamonds' 30 percent of the rough diamonds traded worldwide come from Russia. A third of this goes to Antwerp, via the Indian port of Surat in India. There 90 percent of all rough diamonds from all over the world are cut or polished. From that moment on, the diamond is an Indian product; a certificate of origin is almost never asked, regardless of where the diamonds originally comes from. The situation has changed now. The consumers today want clear answers. They don't want to wear conflict diamonds. They will go to a store that only works or sells diamonds from Canada or Botswana. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has created this mindset among conscious consumers and it's not going to change anytime soon till Russia returns the invaded land to Ukraine. It is inevitable that the war in Ukraine will lead to bankruptcies of many diamond businesses in Antwerp. Period.
