LONDON, August 04. /ITAR-TASS/. European anti-Russian sanctions threaten British jobs, said chairman of British construction equipment producer JCB Anthony Bamford quoted by The Telegraph on Monday.

Sir Bamford described EU-adopted tougher sanctions as “absurd” and warned they would hit the companies closely cooperating with Russian partners.

“Russia is a very important market for JCB and has been for more than 30 years,” he said. “If sanctions restrict sales of machines and spare parts, there will be obviously be a major impact on JCB, which could put hundreds of British jobs at risk.”

Last September, JCB opened its largest dealer centre worth 6 million pounds (about $10.1 million) in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

The new stage of European sanctions affected oil, defense and hi-tech sectors as well as dual-purpose goods. However, European companies’ chief fear that new deterioration in relations with Russia might limit cooperation in other sectors as well. Last week, the new British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond also voiced concern Russia economic sanctions would adversely affect the British economy.

Russia is the UK 14th most important trade partner. According to The Telegraph, Russian accounts for 9.5% of British vehicle export.