IZHEVSK, September 3. /TASS/. The new US sanctions recently introduced against the Izhevsk-based Kupol Electromechanical Plant will have no effect on its operations, Udmurt Industry and Trade Minister Oleg Rodionov told TASS on Thursday.
"Kupol is a subsidiary of the Almaz-Antey company that encountered sanctions a year or a year and a half ago," Radionov said.
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He added that he could not understand what the sanctions list authors were motivated by when putting Kupol on the list, since "there are virtually no new restrictions in it".
"Maybe, they just get information on the Internet and use it as a pretext or, maybe, they use information from some individuals, outdated information," the minister said.
Rodionov presumed that US officials possibly used information on Kupol’s deliveries: the firm had supplied its "products to Iran, but it was before the sanctions were introduced" - 5 to 10 years before.
According to the minister, Kupol’s electronic componentry is supplied by domestic companies and comprises 16,000 items. In addition, the plant does not export its systems to the countries covered by embargos.
Kupol was established in 1957. It is a manufacturer of short-range air defense systems. They are in service with the armed forces of over 20 countries.
TASS reported earlier that the US Department of Commerce had put new Russian and other companies on the Ukraine sanctions list, including Kupol. Earlier, the sanctions were applied to such Izhevsk-based firms as Kalashnikov, the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant and the now-bankrupt Izhmash.