Australia sanctions 1 individual, 4 Russian companies over construction of Crimean Bridge
HONG KONG. March 30 (Interfax) - The Australian Foreign Ministry has announced sanctions against one individual and four companies from Russia in connection to the construction of the Kerch Strait bridge.
"Australia has imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against a Russian individual and four Russian companies connected to the construction and operation of the Kerch Strait Railway Bridge linking Russia to the illegally annexed territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement published on its website.
The sanctions have been announced "in coordination with Canada and aligns with action taken by the United Kingdom and European Union," it said.
Australia continues to "support Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in coordination with our international partners," the ministry said.
In all, Australia has included 168 individuals and 52 legal entities from Russia in its sanctions lists since 2014, the ministry said.
Canada earlier imposed sanctions on two Russians and four companies connected to the construction of the Crimean Bridge. These sanctions target the First Crimean Insurance Company, Crimea Railway, JSC Lenpromtransproyekt, JSC The Berkakit-Tommot-Yakutsk Railway Line's Construction Directorate, as well as Grand Service Express general director Alexander Ganov and JSC Stroygazmontazh deputy general director for infrastructure projects Leonid Ryzhenkin.
The restrictive measures freeze their assets and ban trading operations in Canada.
Earlier, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the European Union also sanctioned these four companies, Ganov and Ryzhenkin.
Crimea, which remained an autonomous republic within independent Ukraine after the Soviet Union's breakup in 1991, became part of Russia following government change in Ukraine and a local referendum in 2014. Ukraine has not recognized its results and considers the peninsula its territory temporarily occupied by Russia. European Union countries and the United States qualified Russia's actions as illegal annexation and imposed sanctions on a number of companies, policymakers, and businesspeople. Russia has said the subject of Crimea is closed forever, and the peninsula belongs to it.