Companies linked to Russian billionaire Arkady Rotenberg and Gennady Timchenko, both close allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, were given contracts worth 309 billion roubles (£3.6 billion, $8.1 billion) since western sanctions were imposed on the men in March, according to a Bloomberg report. The deals included a 228-billion- rouble project to build a bridge to Crimea from the Russian mainland as well as a large chunk of the 770-billion-rouble Power of Siberia gas pipeline. The two men were sanctioned due to their links to key Russian industries. Rotenberg, a childhood friend of Putin’s, owns SMP bank along with …read more
Source: Business Insider
