Russian mercenaries Wagner, a group accused of war crimes in warzones around the world, is allegedly part of a diamond trading scheme, according to a report published by “De Standaard”. The daily prepared the report in collaboration with the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), an investigative journalism project.
The daily stated that Wagner allegedly set up a front company dubbed “Diamville” in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2019, and through which the group has exported EUR 132,000 worth of diamonds to Belgium in November that year.
According to the report, “five sources from the diamond sector in Bangui”, the capital city of the African nation, have confirmed the fact that “Diamville”, one the four biggest diamond exporters in the CAR, is a front company for Wagner.
The daily added that most of the diamonds are smuggled through Cameroon and Sudan, with some passing through official channels.
The allegations come after a report by The Guardian, published in November, which said that Belgium imported €1.2bn of Russian diamonds in the first eight months of 2022.
In response, the lobbying body which represents the Antwerp diamond sector, The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), stated that a ban on Russian diamonds could lead to up to 10,000 job losses across Belgium's diamond industry, “De Standaard” reported.
In March, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a speech at the Belgian Parliament, in which he slammed all people “who believe that Russian diamonds in Antwerp, for example, are more important than the war in Eastern Europe”.
“Peace is worth more than anything, more than any values, more than any diamonds,” Zelensky added.
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Source: PAP, De Standaard, Brussels Times, The Guardian