A very interesting piece of information was recently told by the economist Mikhail Delyagin, a member of the Russian State Duma:

From the words of Mikhail Delyagin it follows that Armenian occupants have turned the occupied Azerbaijani Garabagh into a diamond cutting workshop, and it was one of the reasons why Armenia has not recognized the so-called "independence" of separatist NKR. Because if Armenia had recognized this occupied Azerbaijani territory as "its own" or "independent", it would have had to account for the shady "diamond" business deployed here before other powers (primarily Great Britain and Israel) interested in the legality and transparency of the quite competitive global diamond market.

In fact, Mikhail Delyagin has exposed only part of the very painful issue of international business, in which there is a "shadow game" going on. Exactly the shadow game, because even publicity of many things can collapse this market.

For starters, a diamond crystal is still a modification of carbon, which is one of the most common elements on Earth. While until the mid-20th century diamonds were only of natural origin, in the 1950s they were learned to be synthesized in a laboratory. Technologies do not stand still, including synthetic diamonds. While in 2000, synthesis technologies for producing large diamonds were not perfect, today it is possible to synthesize diamonds up to 50-100 carats and above in a laboratory setting and they do not differ in principle from natural diamonds in their properties.

Gem quality lab-grown diamonds are chemically, physically and optically identical to natural diamonds. Synthetic diamonds are cheaper than natural diamonds and in the long term the price is expected to fall due to improvements in technology. Therefore, the diamond market in the long term, according to most experts, is expected to fall in prices. This leads to the fact that the major players do not want to admit competitors to this market, especially illegal and shadowy ones, which could bring the market crashing down before its time.

The market of natural diamonds is not that simple. This market is monopolized by De Beers, ALROSA, Rio Tinto, Dominion Diamond and Petra Diamonds.

These companies account for 70% of the world's diamond production. Most of the world's diamonds are mined in African countries, but there are nuances.

Almost all of the major African diamond producing countries - Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Angola, DR Congo - are former British, Portuguese or Belgian colonies (i.e., the British influence in Africa).

Meanwhile, as we know, much of Africa is a former French colony. And there are potentially rich diamond deposits there too. But back in the colonial era, certain powerful forces made it so that France could not and still cannot "realise the diamond potential" of its former colonial empire.

As a result, diamonds mined in the former French colonies (Guinea, Central African Republic, etc.) were to a great extent supplied to the "underground" diamond market, which was supervised by the same French secret service.

Moreover, these diamonds are "blood diamonds" in the truest sense, as their mining and resale is controlled by local paramilitary groups and PMCs engaged by the same French special services.

That is, it is France that "unofficially" supports the shadow diamond market without being very public about it. Although it is clear that illegal diamond circulation and related crimes have been fought for years by the intelligence services of other powers. 

The world market for diamond cutting is also monopolized. The world's largest diamond-cutting centres are the United States, Belgium, India and Israel (up to 65% of mined diamonds are cut). Meanwhile, France, which also has a well-developed jewelry industry, is forced, to a large extent for them, to buy processed diamonds abroad. Thus, the more "shadow" diamonds are brought to the French market, the lower are the expenses incurred by the jewelry market operators to purchase "legal" diamonds.

This explains why the French were in dire need of a "shadow zone" for diamond cutting. The scheme is simple - diamonds mined in the former French colonies (mostly "shadow") are illegally shipped to Armenia, and from there to occupied Karabakh in Azerbaijan, where they are also illegally cut and then these diamonds (polished and cut) get to France. Thus, the world diamond market, which is already "feverish" on the eve of almost inevitable appearance of relatively cheap synthetic gem-quality diamonds, is experiencing a significant dumping factor.

How much Armenian occupants and "Artsakh" separatists earned from illegal diamond cutting and participation in "shady" diamond schemes during the years of occupation of Karabakh is yet to be clarified. But one thing is clear, that any separatism, in one way or another, violates international law and only contributes to the flourishing of criminal and often bloody business, as in the case of diamonds.

 Also, it remains to be seen in what shady schemes the separatist regimes in Sukhumi and Tskhinvali are involved, especially since this is not the first time they have profited from criminal business.

Kavkazplus