Chinese company planning to build tunnel to Crimea added to list of war sponsors
The National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP) has added China's second largest state-owned construction company, China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), to the list of international sponsors of the war. It continues to work in Russia, building subways, bridges, and highways.
According to Ukrinform, the NACP reported this.
"CRCC Railway Construction Corporation is the second largest state-owned construction company in the People's Republic of China. It is engaged in the construction of railway infrastructure in China, including highways, tunnels, bridges, expressways, airports, ports, etc.", the report says.
CRCC has been operating in Russia for six years, i.e., it opened its representative office in the terrorist state after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in 2014.
CRCC is controlled by the China Railway Construction Group, which is fully subordinated to the State Administration of State-owned Assets of China (SASAC).
In 2017, the company's Russian subsidiary, CRCC RUS LLC, signed a contract for the construction of three stations of the Moscow Metro's Big Ring Line: Aminyevskaya, Michurinsky Prospekt, and Prospekt Vernadskogo. They were opened in December 2021. In the same year, CRCC Rus began construction of a cross-border cable car across the Amur River between the cities of Blagoveshchensk (Russia) and Heihe (China) with a passenger terminal.
A subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation International has signed a contract for the construction of the fifth section of the 107 km Moscow-Kazan national highway, which is an important part of the more global Europe-Western China transportation route.
China is building the fifth stage of the railway, which is located entirely in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia. The site allocated to the Chinese company was initially worth RUB 58.9 billion, but its cost has increased to RUB 70-80 billion (over USD 900 million). Construction is due to be completed in December 2023 (according to other sources, in June 2024). At the same time, this highway is being advertised with the direct participation of the president of the aggressor country, Vladimir Putin. He opened a new section of the Moscow-Kazan highway from Moscow to Arzamas in the Nizhny Novgorod region in September 2023.
"Also, according to international media reports, at the end of October 2023, the leaderships of Russia and China secretly discussed plans to build an underwater tunnel to connect Russia with the temporarily occupied Crimea. CRCC will be the contractor for the construction of the tunnel under the Kerch Strait", the NACP said.
The company, represented by CRCC Rus LLC, continues to be an active participant in import and export operations, in particular, in the period from February 24 to July 31, 2023, it imported goods worth more than USD 22 million. The imported goods include materials, spare parts, tools for building structures and construction (frames, columns, beams, posts, etc.) from China.
CRCC provides technological capabilities to the aggressor, continues to actively support Russia's economy and, accordingly, sponsor aggression against Ukraine. There have been no attempts by the company's management to condemn Russia's war against Ukraine.
The Chinese CRCC is represented in Russia by subsidiaries:
16th CRCC Management LLC. The company's revenue in 2022 amounted to USD 3.9 million, and it paid taxes of USD 141,400;
CRCC Rus LLC, the company's revenue for 2022 amounted to USD 424.3 million, and net profit of USD 13.9 million. The company has contractual relations with the sanctioned company JSC RZD Logistics, JSC Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya Shipyard;
LLC Specialized Developer TPU Michurinsky Prospekt. Net profit amounted to USD 923,000, taxes were paid in the amount of USD 34,000;
Silver City Construction LLC. Revenue for 2022 amounted to USD 123,000, taxes paid amounted to USD 81,400;
19 Bureau CRCC Rus LLC and CRCC Harbor Rus LLC were established in 2023, after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
As Ukrinform reported, the NACP has added more than 30 companies to the list of international war sponsors.