“They have cut off all our financing and canceled our credit cards, but we still hope that the ongoing negotiations will help us keep our people working,” said Pananen, the managing director of a Finnish-based petrochemicals group, which has operations also in Russia.
Paananen admitted he was good friends with Timchenko but was surprised that he was being punished for that.
“My only crime is that I have Russian friends… Gennady [Timchenko] and I first met in 1987 when he worked as an electrician,” Paananen said.
Last week the United States slapped additional sanctions on Russia, which it blames for the conflict in Ukraine.
It alleges that Moscow is arming, bankrolling and sending troops to support independence supporters in eastern Ukraine.
The US added 26 new names to its list of anti-Kremlin sanctions.
The 11 individuals and 15 companies will not be able to conduct business with United States companies or citizens and their assets in the US will be frozen.
