SIMFEROPOL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th November, 2019) Western investors have boosted their cooperation with Crimea over the past year, proceeding from intentions to practical implementation of investment projects, Yury Gempel, the head of the Crimean parliament's committee on inter-ethnic relations and public diplomacy, told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"Over the past year, Western investors have activated their work with Crimea. If they used to just set sights, now time has come to implement real investment projects. However, as of now, these are only representatives of the small and medium business, entering the peninsula both directly and through affiliated structures," Gempel said.
He mentioned a sheep breeding farm that a German businessman opened in Crimea's north as an example of cooperation.
"Investors are chiefly interested in agriculture and tourism," Gempel emphasized.
The Crimean Peninsula rejoined Russia after nearly 97 percent of voters supported the move in referendum, held in March 2014. The majority of Western countries, as well as Ukraine, have not recognized the referendum results and imposed sanctions on Russia. Moscow has repeatedly stated that Crimea's residents decided to rejoin Russia through a democratic procedure, as the referendum was conducted in compliance with international law. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the issue of the peninsula's territorial belonging is "historically closed."
