Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has welcomed the decision of the Council of the European Union to impose sanctions against six companies involved in the illegal construction of the Kerch Strait Bridge.

"Welcome the EU Council decision to sanction Russian companies responsible for Kerch bridge construction. Important warning also for European businesses not to go down same slippery slope," he wrote in his Twitter microblog on Tuesday.

As reported, the European Union imposed sanctions against companies that participated in the construction of the bridge across the Kerch Strait to Crimea, according to a decision, dated July 30, published in the Official Journal of the EU.

Two companies controlled by tycoon Arkady Rotenberg, PJSC Mostotrest and Stroygazmontazh LLC (SGM) are subject to the European sanctions as of July 31. Both companies were previously included in the U.S. sanctions list.

The EU sanctions also apply to JSC Institute Giprostroymost St. Petersburg, JSC Zaliv Shipyard, Stroygazmontazh-Most LLC and Vologda-based JSC VAD.

The construction of the bridge and its official opening in May 2018 were key symbolic steps in Russia consolidating control over illegally annexed Crimea and Sevastopol and the peninsula's further isolation from Ukraine, the statement of reasons for the decision to impose the sanctions said.