There is reason to believe that the well-known Austrian architectural bureau Coop Himmelblau is participating in the construction of an opera house in Sevastopol (ARC), and Ukraine is seriously studying the issue of imposing sanctions against the bureau and its director, Ukrainian Ambassador to Austria Oleksandr Scherba said.

"For some time now, rumors have been circulating about the participation of the architectural bureau Coop Himmelblau in Putin's flagship project in Crimea - the construction of an opera house in occupied Sevastopol. In early October, I calleв director of the bureau, Wolf Prix, and tried to persuade him not to destroy his reputation by participating in this indirect and at the same time of unambiguous legitimization of the annexation. Unfortunately, he did not heed my arguments," Scherba wrote on Facebook on Monday.

The ambassador noted that Ukraine's partners around the world will be notified that a respectable architectural bureau is now concluding dubious deals with the President of the Russian Federation.

"At this stage, when the rumors are vividly confirmed by the Russian media, I have no choice but to express regret and inform architect Prix that Ukraine is seriously studying the issue of imposing sanctions against him and his bureau. Our partners around the world will be notified that formerly respectable architectural bureau is now concluding dubious deals with Putin," Scherba stressed.