You're reading: Bloomberg: Ukraine complains Russia is using new Crimea bridge to disrupt shipping

Bloomberg: Ukraine complains Russia is using new Crimea bridge to disrupt shipping

By Bloomberg.

Published July 26, 2018. Updated July 26 at 9:30 am

A vehicle runs down the 19 km road-and-rail Crimean Bridge passing over the Kerch Strait and linking southern Russia to the Crimean peninsula on May 15, 2018, in Kerch, prior to the opening ceremony. Russian President, on May 15 is set to unveil a 19-kilometre-long bridge linking southern Russia to the Crimean peninsula annexed from Ukraine, a highly symbolic project he has personally championed. Built at a cost of 228 billion rubles ($3.69 billion), the new structure connects the southern Krasnodar region with the Crimean city of Kerch, spanning a strait between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea.

Photo by AFP

Ukraine complained that Russia is using its new bridge to Crimea, the peninsula it annexed in 2014, to delay its neighbor’s ships, exert political pressure and hurt its economy.

Ukraine’s State Border Service said July 25 that inspections of vessels have risen sharply since the 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge across the Kerch Strait to Russia’s mainland was officially opened in May. Waiting times can be as long as three days, according to spokesman Oleh Slobodyan.