Crimea's parliamentary speaker Vladimir Konstantinov celebrates switching to Moscow time in the Crimean city of Simferopol March 30, 2014.  REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/file photo
Russia

Russian-controlled Crimea prepares to sell off Ukrainian assets

Russian-installed authorities in Crimea said on Saturday they planned to sell about 100 Ukrainian properties, including one belonging to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

(Reuters) - Russian-installed authorities in Crimea said on Saturday they planned to sell about 100 Ukrainian properties, including one belonging to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of the Crimean parliament, said the nationalised properties would be sold "soon" and the authorities had held the first eight auctions for the properties of Ukrainian business figures.

The sale contracts amounted to more than 815 million roubles ($8.51 million), Konstantinov said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian-installed authorities in Crimea said in February that they had nationalised around 500 properties in Crimea including some belonging to senior Ukrainian politicians and business figures.

Crimea, internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, has been controlled by Moscow since 2014, when Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula, eight years before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

($1 = 95.8000 roubles)

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by William Mallard)

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