Rotenberg: I’m not afraid of sanctions, I’ll build the Kerch Bridge by the end of 2018

Moscow - Kyiv, January 30 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - The owner of Stroygazmontazh and friend of Vladimir Putin Arkady Rotenberg said in an interview "Kommersant" about the Kerch bridge. According to him, he is quite capable of building a bridge by the end of 2018 for 228 billion rubles. Rotenberg is not afraid of sanctions: he has the technology, materials and equipment, and his son’s business is distanced from the project. The businessman considers the Kerch Bridge the result of his life and a contribution to the development of the country.

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The understanding that consent to the construction of the Kerch Bridge is complete isolation from the West, a black mark both in personal life and in business, “was and is.” “But a bridge project appeared, and I considered it important to implement it, important for the country,” says Putin’s friend. – At 63 years old, I think more about what I should leave behind, what will be the outcome of my life. I live in Russia and have no plans to leave anywhere. Been everywhere already. Business is all here too.”

Rotenberg, according to him, is not offended that his friend and Putin’s friend Gennady Timchenko was allowed to refuse to participate in a project that is dangerous from the point of view of Western sanctions. “For me, this (the bridge) is apparently the final big project - and not for the purpose of making money. He is, if I may, my contribution to the development of the country,” he says.

The businessman is not worried that the business he is transferring to his son may be limited by sanctions. “I started the process of selling part of the business to my son long before the sanctions; we have been moving towards these transactions for several years. Today my son is not connected with my business, he is developing his own projects.”

In response to the interviewer’s objection that Stroygazmontazh had never built bridges, Rotenberg explained: “We are negotiating with foreign companies - for example, with Turkish builders who approached us themselves. In the near future, technical specialists will go to discuss this. We warned them directly that there may be sanctions, but they say that they will resolve this issue.” According to Rotenberg, there are no Chinese companies among the potential subcontractors of the bridge yet, “but we are negotiating with companies from South Korea. They build well and have experience in these types of projects.”

As for the statements of the Crimean authorities about the preference for building a tunnel rather than a bridge, Rotenberg in this matter prefers to focus on decisions made in Moscow. “I would not undertake to build a tunnel; we do not have sufficient competence for this,” he says. “There will be a road-railway bridge.”

Technological sanctions from the West do not frighten Putin’s friend. “We plan to complete the project using Russian materials and Russian technologies. Of course, it would be good to use Norwegian and Dutch platforms, but we can do it ourselves,” he says. This also applies to special grades of steel, which are not available in Russia: according to him, Russian technologies for the production of bridge metal structures will be quite sufficient. “We have all the equipment to implement the project. Stroygazmontazh has good production assets. There will definitely be enough for the bridge,” says Rotenberg. Problems with maintenance, spare parts and repairs are planned to be resolved “as they become available.”

According to Arkady Rotenberg, “everything, taking into account design and approvals from government agencies, will take four years, that is, in reality this is the end of 2018.”

Arkady Rotenberg does not expect sanctions against Russia to be lifted in the foreseeable future. “My personal opinion: nothing will end quickly. They are pressing from all sides - and now is definitely not the end.”