UK Followed EU sanctions on Kerch Bridge

The United Kingdom has announced the imposition of economic sanctions against some Russian Federation’s individuals and companies because of the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait to the temporarily occupied Crimea. The British Ministry of Finance announced this decision the day after the European Union imposed similar restrictions.

As one reports, the sanctions were imposed on two private individuals and four companies:

• Alexander Ganov, CEO of Grand Service Express, which operates a railway connection between Russia and the annexed Crimea;
• Leonid Ryzhenkin, the Deputy General Director for Infrastructure Projects of “Stroygazmontazh” LLC, who has been building the Kerch Bridge since 2015;
• a joint-stock company “Lenpromtransproekt;”
• a joint-stock company “Directorate for the Berkakit-Tommot-Yakutsk railway construction;”
• a Crimean Railway Company;
• a Crimean First Insurance Company.

The assets owned by these individuals and legal entities are to be frozen in the United Kingdom jurisdiction. Conducting any financial affairs related to these assets is considered a criminal offence.

To recap, on Thursday, 1 October, the European Union expanded the sanctions to the Kerch bridge construction participants. The EU explained that two Russians citizens and four companies were blacklisted for their role in the development and construction or railway infrastructure use between Russia and annexed Crimea.

In 2018, the European Union officially imposed sanctions on six Russian companies involved in the Kerch Bridge construction.

Bohdan Marusyak