Putin ally handed contract to build Russian bridge to Crimea

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has handed a multi-billion dollar contract to build a bridge to the Crimea peninsula to an ally and former judo partner of Vladimir Putin who is under Western sanctions.

A government order published on Friday named Stroygazmontazh (SGM) as the contractor to build the bridge spanning the Kerch Strait to link Russia's mainland and Crimea, annexed from Ukraine last March in an act that triggered Western sanctions.