Speaking of how the US could affect large operators, he said: "If they pass the bill, they will most likely select one or two showcase victims to make all others tremble."

VLADIVOSTOK, May 16. /TASS/. The toughening of US sanctions against the DPRK may complicate considerably the functioning of operators of Far-Eastern seaports but will not wield practically any impact on the operations of seaports as separate enterprises, Assistant Professor Artyom Lukin at Far-Eastern Federal University’s School for Regional and International Research, one of the leading Russian experts on the Koreas, told TASS.

Financial and economic damage may affect Summa Group (Commercial Port of Vladivostok), Kuzbassrazrezugol (Vostochny Port), Evraz (Nakhodka Trade Sea Port) and Vanino Sea Trade Port (Mechel Group is the core customer), he said.

"These are big companies with sizable volumes of operations abroad and assets in the West and they are tightly linked to the dollar-pegged banking system," Dr. Lukin said. "American sanctions can complicate their business extremely and inflict serious losses on them," he added.

He admitted that these companies may eventually face a tough choice between either maintaining contacts of their ports with North Korea or to lose access to the US banking system.

Meanwhile, Mechel’s Director of Public Relations Department Ekaterina Videman told TASS that the company does not export products to North Korea either via Trade Port Posiet (part of Mechel) or through Vanino Port. "The company does not have any trade and economic relations with representatives of North Korea," Videman said.

According to Lukin, the sanctions will not substantially affect operations of the ports as separate enterprises or their economic indicators. "The initiatives on sanctions create risks, first and foremost, for the international ports that service trade with the DPRK and have considerable amounts of haulage to and from the US at the same time," he said. "In practical terms, the bill puts these seaports in the face of a hard choice between cooperating with the DPRK or with the US"

For large Russian Far-Eastern ports, including Vanino, Vladivostok and Nakhodka, the US is not a priority destination at present, Dr. Lukin believes. "The main counterparts for them are the seaports in East Asia, and primarily in China, Japan and South Korea, the volumes of commerce between the Far-Eastern regions and the U.S. are not significant," he said. "That’s why whatever the damage, it won’t be critical for them."

Executives of companies doing direct business with the DPRK do not express concerns over the situation. For instance, Investstroitrest that launches regular cargo and passenger haulage between Vladivostok and the North Korean port of Rajin on May 18, believes the sanctions will not affect the transportation business in any way.