Investigations by Norwegian broadcaster NRK have revealed that two trawlers currently under repair at a Norwegian shipyard belong to EU-sanctioned Russian politician and Russian President Vladimir Putin associate Igor Dmitrievich Zubarev.
Zubarev, who sits on the Russian Federation Council of Putin's United Russia Party, made the EU's list of sanctioned individuals after he voted to recognize the Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent people's republics.
Despite a quarter of Fiskarstrand Verft's revenue coming from Russian clients, after becoming aware of the connection, the shipyard stopped work on the two vessels, Kem and Belomorsk.
"We stopped the work as soon as we became aware of this," yard director Magne Standal told NRK. "Now we are unsure of what will happen next."
NRK points out that when it checked the ownership of Zubarev's company on Monday, Zubarev was the sole owner.
On Tuesday, the politician was listed with 100 percent of the shares, but another Russian, Igor Viktorovich Chevychalo, is now listed as the owner.
Zubarev is not the only sanctioned Russian politician with seafood connections.
Russian Fishery Company and Russian Crab Group are controlled by fisheries magnate Gleb Frank, who is the son-in-law of billionaire Gennady Timchenko. Before 2016, Frank also had a 14 percent share in salmon farming giant Russian Aquaculture.
The UK imposed sanctions on Timchenko on Feb. 22 because of his close links to Putin.
