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Ukrainian sanctions cannot affect Crimea’s development anymore, authorities say

On March 20, Pyotr Poroshenko signed the law to impose sanctions on 294 legal entities, 848 persons who took part in the Crimean Bridge construction and the organization of the Donbass' elections

MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. Ukraine’s new package of sanctions will not affect Crimea in any way, as all the negative consequences from this country’s actions on the peninsula are way behind already. Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Board of Ministers and Crimean Permanent Representative to the Russian President Georgy Muradov told journalists about it on Thursday at the international conference "Crimea in Modern Geopolitics - Five Years to the Crimean Spring."

Earlier on Wednesday Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko signed the law to introduce sanctions against 294 legal entities and 848 persons who took part in the construction of the Crimean Bridge and in the organization of elections in the Donbass republics. Restrictive measures were also prolonged for four Russian banks and the people who visited Crimea.

"The sanctions will have no effect, because these sanctions are less than a mosquito bite. They are nothing to us: the current nationalist antinational Ukrainian authorities already did all the bad things they could do. Still, they continue to damage the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian statehood," Muradov said.

He specified that the effects of the energy and water blockade that Ukraine had established against Crimea were overcome already. The sanctions will not decrease the number of foreigners wishing to come to Crimea as part of "people’s diplomacy" either. "On the contrary, bans of any kind or attempts to exert pressure over people will have the reverse effect: these people will try even harder to participate in the work on Crimea and attract more of our friends and partners," Muradov said.

Following a coup d’etat in Kiev in February 2014, the Crimean and Sevastopol authorities decided to hold a referendum on Crimea’s reintegration with Russia. More than 80% people with the right to vote took part in the referendum that was held on March 16, 2014. The reunification with Russia was backed by 96.7% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol residents. On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement on the accession of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation, and on March 21 the document was ratified by the Federal Assembly. Despite the convincing results of the referendum, Kiev refused to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.