Putin opened a Crimean bridge at KamAZ, builders face a fine of $ 970 thousand

Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the official opening ceremony of the Crimean Bridge.

The head of the Kremlin personally drove across the bridge behind the wheel of KamAZ, leading a convoy of 35 machines, including dump trucks, truck cranes, cement trucks, tanks and other equipment that was used in the construction of the bridge, writes “Currently,".

After the trip, Putin briefly commented on the impressions of her.

“Super!” said the head of Russia.

The car traffic on the bridge will begin on 16 May. The railway part of the Crimean bridge, as planned, will be opened in 2019 year.

The president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko reacted to the opening.

“The occupiers will definitely need the bridge when they urgently leave our Crimea,” he wrote on his page on the social network Facebook.

He added that the illegal construction of this bridge is “another evidence of disregard for international law by the Kremlin.”

“Particularly cynical is the fact that its opening is taking place on the eve of the next anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people by the Stalinist regime,” the President of Ukraine emphasized.

The bridge goes through the Tuzla Spit and consists of a road junction with two lanes in each direction and two railway tracks. More than three thousand piles were driven into its foundation.

They designed and built the bridge of the company of Arkady Rotenberg, a close friend of Vladimir Putin. Rotenberg is under EU sanctions for the annexation of the Crimea: he was denied entry to the EU countries, and his assets placed in European banks were arrested.

Despite the fact that European companies were not directly involved in the construction of the bridge due to the sanctions, some of them had problems due to the fact that they could supply equipment for builders, writes “Currently,".

Netherlands Prosecutor's Office began investigation in relation to two construction companies that could participate in the construction of a bridge from Russia to the Crimea. Dematec equipment, according to the prosecutor's office, put a pile driver at the construction site (diesel hammer for driving piles), and Biljard Hydrauliek could be a supplier of parts for this hammer and set up equipment.

According to the EU sanctions against Russia for the annexation of Crimea, European and European-based companies from 2014 cannot acquire property in Crimea, finance Crimean companies or provide them with services. For violation of the sanctions regime, businesses in the EU face heavy fines: up to 820 thousand euros ($ 973 thousand). Separately, the heads of such enterprises can also be punished: they face fines of up to 82 thousand euros ($ 97 thousand) and even imprisonment for up to 6 years.

Charges to managers Dematec Equipment and Biljard Hydrauliek not yet submitted. But it is known that the company's employees traveled to Russia, and the Russian delegation visited the Netherlands and the city where the headquarters of one of the companies is located before the equipment was delivered.

Мanagement Dematec equipment stated that its employees worked only in Russia, and not in the Crimea, and the director Biljard Hydrauliek He said that he was not aware of the fact that his equipment was supplied to the Crimea for the construction of a bridge.

Prove that both companies had the intention to circumvent the sanctions, the prosecutor's office has not yet succeeded. However, investigators believe that without the help of Dutch companies, Russian builders would not have been able to build a bridge to the Crimea in such a short time.

It is known that, in addition to the two companies mentioned, the authorities of the Netherlands are investigating work at the construction of a bridge to the Crimea in 2015-2017 for five more companies from this country.

Putin announced the need to build a crossing through the Kerch Strait immediately after the annexation of Crimea - in March 2014. The order appointing the Stroygazmontazh enterprise as the general contractor for the bridge was signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on January 30, 2015. The Ukrainian side withdrew from the agreement with Russia on the construction of the bridge in 2014, after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.

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