REUTERS
After Hansa Heavy Lift and Heinz Corleis KG delivered 35,000 tonnes of ilmenite to the Russian port of Kavkaz, just 20 km away from the occupied Crimea, the batch was forwarded to the illegally annexed peninsula.
Two German shipping companies are suspected of violating sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia for the illegal annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea.
Hamburg-based Hansa Heavy Lift and Heinz Corleis KG from Stade delivered to Russia a batch of titanium ore (ilmenite), which later resurfaced in Crimea, as reported by Deutsche Welle with reference to Deutschlandfunk (DLF) radio station.
In November and December 2017, Hansa Heavy Lift and Heinz Corleis KG delivered a total of about 35,000 tonnes of titanium ore from Norway to the Russian port of Kavkaz, located in the Strait of Kerch, DLF reports.
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The ore was then reloaded onto the Russian ship, Nefterudovoz-2, which, according to DLF, then sailed to the Crimean port just 20 km away.
Crimea is home to Krymskyi Tytan [Crimean Titanium] enterprise, producer of titanium dioxide for paint and varnish as well as for other industries. Titanium ore is also used in defense industry, so it remains unclear whether it falls under EU sanctions against Russia, but at the same time, its supply to Crimea is clearly prohibited, journalists stress.
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Meanwhile, Heavy Lift and Heinz Corleis KG say they were not aware that the ore would resurface on the occupied peninsula, adding that deliveries to the Russian Federation did not conflict with sanctions.
The fact that the ship with titanium ore sailed in Crimea was revealed to DLF by editor-in-chief of Blackseanews.net information portal, head of the supervisory board of the Ukrainian Maidan of Foreign Affairs NGO, Andriy Klymenko.
According to the expert, Russia does not need ilmenite supplies, since it is extracted in sufficient quantities in the Urals.
At the same time, he stresses, European companies should take into account that the Kavkaz seaport is used to bypass sanctions.
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The Hamburg prosecutor's office confirmed to DLF that the charges against Hansa Heavy Lift and Heinz Corleis KG were being verified.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry of Norway reported that an investigation was underway against the Norwegian company Titania Kronos, which extracted the ore supposedly delivered to Crimea, reports DLF.
Norway, which is not part of the EU, earlier joined Russia sanctions imposed in connection with the annexation of Crimea.