The European Commission is considering extending sanctions on Russia to include diamonds, responding to the country's invasion of Ukraine. Russia, a major global diamond supplier, contributes one-third to the market. Despite previous sanctions on various Russian commodities, diamonds have been exempt, partly due to Belgium's desire to protect...
16 Nov 2023
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, a sore point of non-enforced sanctions has been the free flow of diamonds from Russia into Europe and the West. One of the reasons the sanctions have been bypassed is due to the revenue they bring to Antwerp and Belgian, arguably the diamond capital of the world, which relies heavily on Russian...
30 Apr 2023
A Gucci eatery has popped in Moscow. With plush double G upholstery, tongue-in-cheek branding and a looming Café Gucci logo, it appears to be a bonafide hack not unlike the luxury house’s hacking of Balenciaga several seasons ago. Except that Gucci has paused operations in Russia, where like most international brands it has closed its stores...
14 Apr 2023
Over 1,000 companies have voluntarily curtailed operations in Russia since the onset of the Ukraine invasion. Figures from the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute (CELI) published its latest list of businesses on 14 September after tracking over 1,200 companies. The list grades companies on a scale from A to F for the completeness of...
20 Sept 2022
Russian consumers are turning to grey markets for their shopping needs after sanctions have made access to local fashion and luxury labels difficult, if not impossible. Like China’s daigou – personal shoppers who buy luxury goods abroad and resell them at home with a small markup but do so avoiding the hefty tariffs – a new breed of personal...
16 Jun 2022
It has not been a good week for Russian shoppers. After the announcement that McDonald’s was withdrawing from the Russian Federation, Harrods has reportedly informed its Russian clients it can no longer sell high priced luxury goods in the wake of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. Several news outlets have stated that limited sales to Russia’s high...
18 May 2022
Russia has seized a bulk of luxury watches from Audemars Piquet, in what is thought a multi million dollar haul. The timepieces were confiscated by Russia’s secret service, who cited the reason as customs violations, in response to Switzerland’s economic sanctions. Switzerland has also frozen the assets of wealthy Russians banking in its neutral...
30 Mar 2022
There may be little that economic sanctions can do to aid the valiant efforts of Ukrainians on the ground as they defend their country from Russia’s increasingly brutal invasion tactics. Still, the coalition of governments representing the West that includes members of NATO and the European Union are continuing to impose further economic...
22 Mar 2022
Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning Sporting Goods has found itself in political crossfires after a shipment of sneakers was seized at a US port. Some of Li-Ning’s products are made in North Korea and sanctions levied via Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) resulted in US border control prohibiting the entry of goods...
17 Mar 2022
Eurochambres, the association of European Chambers of commerce and industry, has voiced its concerns over the ongoing Ukraine crisis, both in terms of civilian security and the effect it could have on European business. The organisation said it condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the “unprovoked invasion” by Russia against Ukraine, in a...
1 Mar 2022
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which administers and enforces economic sanctions, has taken the first official actions against a company operating in the luxury market, the rough diamond mining and distribution company, Alrosa. The public joint stock monopoly accounts for over ninety percent of...
25 Feb 2022
Tensions between Russia and the Ukraine may lead to greater international sanctions, if an invasion of Ukrainian territory takes place. The impact of sanctions on the fashion industry may not be fully tangible, but will no doubt reverberate. High dependence on import To start, Russia’s fashion sector is strongly dependent on imported goods....
21 Feb 2022