Moscow: Alrosa reported a 9 per cent increase in rough diamond sales in 2023, to $3.55bn, despite Western attempts to impose sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

However net profit dropped 15 per cent to $939.3m, according to a media reports.

Russia’s state-controlled miner has been largely unaffected by sanctions so far, but on 1 March news restrictions came into force across the G7 and EU countries outlawing the importation of any diamond over 1.0-ct.  There is no longer an exemption for goods cut and polished outside Russia.

Alrosa did not provide a breakdown, as it did before the Ukraine war, of where it had sold it goods. Its biggest buyers have traditionally been Belgium, UAE and India.

The miner’s sales are lower than those of its biggest rival De Beers, which suffered a 36 per cent drop in revenue last year to $4.3bn.