On Friday Reuters reported that four companies and eight individuals from the Netherlands were fined for violating sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU, between 2014 and 2017.
The Dutch prosecutor’s office accused them of aiding Moscow’s construction of the Crimean Bridge.
The eight individuals received sentences of community service, ranging from 20 to 60 hours. The companies were issued fines totaling €160,000 ($169,000), according to the Reuters report. The state also confiscated €71,000 in illegal profits from one company.
The companies, which were not named, allegedly supported the construction of the bridge by supplying machines, machine parts, and other construction services, which aided in the construction of the 19 km bridge, which links the Crimean Peninsula and mainland Russia with both a road and rail transport link.
After the region refused to support the Maidan coup in Kiev in 2014, which overthrew the elected government of Ukraine, Crimea joined the Russian Federation through a referendum in 2014. The referendum was referred to as an “illegal annexation” by the EU and the US, which imposed a series of economic sanctions on Russia. The situation led to a simmering hostility which recently erupted into open military conflict in the region.
