A major Russian construction company with ties to a notorious Chechen strongman appears to be behind a new $100 million vehicle bridge meant to connect Russia’s Far East and North Korea, an NK News investigation has found, after Moscow tasked the project to an obscure firm with little relevant experience.

Questions about the viability of the project arose shortly after Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree in February entrusting the tiny Sochi-based company TonnelYuzhStroi with designing and carrying out the construction of the new bridge across the Tumen River by the end of 2026.