Netherlands fines firms for 'helping build' Crimean Bridge

Four companies and eight individuals in the Netherlands have been fined for violating EU sanctions on Russia between 2014 and 2017, Reuters reported on Friday.

They were accused by the Dutch prosecutor’s office of helping Moscow build the Crimean Bridge.

The eight people were sentenced to community service ranging from 20 to 60 hours, while the companies paid fines totaling €160,000 ($169,000), the outlet said. One firm’s “illegal” profits of over €71,000 were also confiscated by the state, the report adds.

The unnamed companies allegedly supplied machines, machine parts, and other services for the construction of the 19km bridge that provides a road and rail transport link between the Crimean Peninsula and mainland Russia.

Crimea became part of the Russian Federation as a result of a referendum in 2014 after the region refused to support the Maidan coup in Kiev that overthrew Ukraine’s elected government. The EU, along with the US and other countries, called the referendum an “illegal annexation” by Russia and has progressively imposed economic sanctions on Moscow since then.

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