Photo from UNIAN
The supply of equipment to the illegally annexed peninsula is a violation of European legislation.
Italy's Bertolaso confirmed the fact of supply of equipment for the new plant owned by an agricultural firm “Zolotaya Balka” in the Russian-occupied Crimea.
A representative of Bertolaso's commercial department, Luca Carassi, said that two months ago the company delivered the equipment for washing, filling, and corking bottles to the Zolotaya Balka's plant in the occupied Sevastopol, according to a correspondent Natalia Kudrik, Krym Realii reported.
According to Carassi, the contract was signed with Zolotaya Balka and one of the company's two owners.
"The contract was signed with Russia, Zolotaya Balka agricultural company – Russia, but we knew that our product was intended for installation at the Crimean enterprise. At first the order was signed with Zolotaya Balka's office in Crimea but then the company address changed, and at our client’s request, the final sales contract was signed with Russia," said Carassi, according to a report delivered in Russian.
At the same time, the company representative added he assumed that the company "dealt directly with the Russians."
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"Everything is legal, we don't see anything suspicious. We sell machinery to different customers, and we don’t care about where they install it. We see Crimea as a favorable region for doing business with great potential for development. If you ask about sanctions and moral side of the issue, this conversation is over," he said.
The remaining Italian companies, which Zolotaya Balka says also supplied equipment to the Crimean enterprise, did not comment on the situation in detail.
The Gortani company in a telephone conversation denied the fact of cooperation with the Crimean plant, although its symbol and telephone contact are visible on Zolotaya Balka's video presentation. At the same time, Innotec and Robino & Galandrino did not confirm or deny the information about the deal with the Crimean enterprise.
The Embassy of Ukraine in Rome believes that the supply of equipment to the annexed Crimea is a violation of European legislation. According to the embassy, Ukraine, together with its European partners, will respond to these facts. Ukrainian diplomats are monitoring such violations and have already sent requests to four of the above companies asking them to explain possible cooperation with Zolotaya Balka, but no responses have been received yet.
A note verbale was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy with a request to take measures to prevent Italian companies from violating the EU sanctions regime. No official reaction has been received from Italy so far.
The new factory of the agricultural firm "Zolotaya Balka " launched its operations in Sevastopol on December 12. According to the company’s representatives, the Italian equipment of Bertolaso, Innotec, Robino & Galandrino, Gortani and others has been installed at the plant.