Head of Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov in town; seeks Indian investments

NEW DELHI: Eyebrows may go up in western capitals as the 'Head of the Republic of Crimea' "accompanied" Russian President Vladimir Putin here, seeking to woo Indian investments.

"India has always been a strategic partner of Russia and its stand was always balanced," Sergey Aksyonov, Head of the Republic of Crimea said.

Crimea had in March this year acceded to the Russian Federation from Ukraine, a move that led to sanctions against the both by western countries.

Out on his first visit abroad after the developments, Aksyonov is looking to woo Indian investments.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed by Aksyonov and Gul Kripalini, chairman of the less- known Indo-Crimean Partnership.

"We invited our Indian partners to visit Crimea as there are opportunities in agriculture, food processing, tourism, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure," he said.

Asked if his visit along with Putin was an attempt by Russia to send out a message to those countries opposing them, he said, "The aim of this visit is pure pragmatic. We are looking for partners and this is for cooperation".

Russian officials said he is "not" part of the "official delegation", but is "accompanying" the President.

Asked whether he was hopeful of building a strong economy back home and if he was confident of getting all funds promised by Russia, he said there were "no doubts".

"The sanctions only mobilised Russian economy and Russian potential including Crimea potential. Now Special Economic Zone will start working in Crimea and will be very advantageous for business.

"So many of them who wanted to humiliate Russia or press it but all of them failed," he said.