ZURICH, May 16 (Reuters) - Sulzer has to temporarily suspend the activities of its two legal entities in Poland due to sanctions levied by the Polish government on Russian minority shareholder Viktor Vekselberg, the Swiss engineering group said.

"The potential impact on sales, if the suspension were to last, is limited to 21 million Swiss francs, representing 0.6% of Sulzer's total sales in 2021," the group added https://www.sulzer.com/en/shared/news/220516-sulzer-business-in-poland-impacted-by-local-sanctions in a statement.

"The Polish sanctions apply to Sulzer's minority shareholder, Viktor Vekselberg, and have been expanded over Sulzer's two Polish entities, even though Mr. Vekselberg has no control or ownership of any Sulzer entity and is deprived of all his economic rights at Sulzer. The company is not sanctioned in any other country or legal entity and is consequently able to continue to develop its business globally," it said.

Swiss-based Medmix also said it was suspending operations at its manufacturing site in Wroclaw, Poland, as a result of sanctions levied by the Polish government on minority shareholder Vekselberg. (Reporting by Michael Shields; editing by Rachel More and Jason Neely)