The Public Prosecutor’s Office fined four Dutch companies and eight individuals on Friday for violating sanctions by participating in the construction of Russia’s Crimean Bridge from 2014 to 2017.
The investigation began in 2017 after the Dutch newspaper De Gelderlander revealed the companies’ involvement in the bridge’s construction.
“The companies’ actions have undermined the purpose and effectiveness of international sanctions. The Crimean Bridge was built partly through Dutch knowledge and expertise,” the prosecutor’s office wrote in a press release.
“The investigation revealed that Dutch companies and individuals developed and supplied goods such as (parts of) pile drivers, vibratory hammers and power packs for the construction of the Crimean bridge,” it added, saying that technical assistance was provided both in the Netherlands and on-site as part of these supplies.
The companies in question were not named.
The case was eventually settled out of court, with the companies fined a total of €160,000 and the eight individuals sentenced to between 20 and 60 hours of community service. The prosecutor’s office also confiscated the profits of one of the companies involved, totalling €71,330.
In reaching its decision, the prosecution took into account the maximum fines for breaches of sanctions at the time, the scope of the companies’ activities and the fact that several years had passed since the breaches.
“Dutch companies build Crimean bridge after illegal Russian annexation. First-class sanctions evasion. Their punishment? A fine of €71,000 and 20 to 60 hours of community service. […] For ‘sanctions evasion’. The prosecution has lost its way,” Isa Yusibov, senior foreign and defence policy officer in the Dutch parliament, wrote on X.
Russia built the bridge following its annexation of Crimea in 2014 to connect the peninsula with the Russian mainland. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, it has fallen victim to numerous attacks, including a large explosion in October 2022.
The EU first introduced sanctions against Russia after the latter’s occupation of Crimea following the ousting of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych during the Euromaidan protests in 2014. In 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led the EU to significantly ramp up the severity of economic sanctions on the country.
The verdict comes just weeks after an official of the Dutch Defence Ministry was arrested for evading sanctions against Russia by supplying the country with spare aeroplane parts via third countries.
(Benedikt Stöckl | Euractiv.com)
Read more with EURACTIV
Rama on EU enlargement promises: Decision makers will be gone, replaced next yearThe European Commission, Council and Parliament cannot make promises about enlargement as many of them will no longer be there next year and it will not be their decision to take, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an interview.
Source: euractiv.com
