Anton Korynevych, the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, has stated sanctions against the companies involved in the construction of the Kerch Strait Bridge in Crimea occupied by Russia could be tightened.

Korynevych said in an interview with the Segodnya online edition that Ukraine had no opportunity to prevent the construction of the bridge.

"From the actual point of view, unfortunately, we really say that the Russian Federation temporarily controls the occupied Ukrainian Crimea. Therefore, Ukraine really did not have the opportunity to prevent the construction of the so-called "Crimean bridge." On the other hand, we know that law enforcement agencies, the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea opened criminal proceedings against the illegality of building this bridge, in particular the environmental damage to the waters of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. And we also know about the involvement of certain foreign companies in building this bridge," the expert said.

At the same time, Korynevych considers it necessary to discuss the issue of Crimean sanctions "very seriously at the level of Ukraine."

"Possibly, to make changes to the legislation: for example, to prosecute for non-compliance with the sanctions, so that Western partners understand that Ukraine will respond to such things," he explained.

"I think now there is a platform for changing the situation with sanctions in Crimea as a whole and improving it. Ukraine was doing what it could do in that situation. But could we really prevent the construction of this bridge? Probably not," he added.