A French populist-conservative politician and investor has agreed to build a historic theme park in the Russian-annexed territory of Crimea together with a patriotic Russian financier who has been linked to pro-Russian insurgents in eastern Ukraine, reports The Financial Times.
The deal between Philippe de Villiers, leader of the eurosceptic Mouvement pour la France party, and Konstantin Malofeev, a key figure in Russian orthodox conservative circles who support expansionist ideologies, is certain to reignite controversy in Europe over supporting a regime the EU is trying to punish with sanctions.
The Crimean government said Mr de Villiers, Mr Malofeev and Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed head of the Crimean government, had signed a memorandum of understanding under which Mr de Villiers’ company Puy du Fou International and Mr Malofeev would invest at least Rbs4bn ($110m) in the park.
Legal experts in Moscow said Mr de Villiers’ planned Crimean venture constituted an open defiance of EU sanctions. Both Mr Malofeev and Mr Aksyonov are blacklisted under EU sanctions against individuals helping or supporting Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.
Under the regulation, EU citizens are barred from making any funds or economic resources available to a blacklisted individual. In addition, the EU has also banned technical and financial assistance for projects in Crimea and joint ventures in transport, energy and telecommunications on the peninsula.
“Even if the Crimea-specific provision does not apply to a theme park, which is not entirely clear, the one regarding the blacklist does – an EU person cannot do any business with these people, full stop,” said a foreign lawyer in Moscow. He said there was “no way” the planned theme park could go ahead under the EU sanctions, but added that the agreement was just a memorandum of understanding, there might be no legal consequences for Mr de Villiers yet.
“This is just a gigantic PR stunt,” he said.
Read more of this report from The Financial Times.