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The ecology minister says that for each such step, the Russian Federation should be held responsible.
Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Ostap Semerak says that the international community will never recognize the Russian law on annulling Ukrainian licenses for the use of subsoil in the waters of the Black and Azov Seas, which came into force in Russia August 3, as reported by the ministry's press service.
According to the report, 131 Ukraine-issued permits for the use of subsoil are operating in Crimea.
"Russia is an aggressor state that has seized Ukrainian territory, trying to take away the property of private companies, Ukrainian state companies, property of Ukraine as a state and the Ukrainian people. This decision once again demonstrated that the Russian authorities have no respect for the sovereign status of Ukraine and the property of its people, but Ukraine is not going to put up with this decision," Semerak said.
The minister added that for each such step, the Russian Federation should be held responsible.
"Ukraine defends its rights in international courts. We have already filed the relevant lawsuits and hope for the support of the international community. The lawsuits were filed by a number of Ukrainian companies, in particular Naftogaz of Ukraine, to recover the damage caused by the illegal seizure of Ukrainian natural resources," the minister said.
Read alsoUkraine's Supreme Court blocks gas production near Russian-occupied Crimea
The Ministry of Ecology recalled that in 2016 Ukraine initiated a dispute with the Russian Federation on the violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and in February 2018 Ukraine submitted a memorandum to the United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on Russia's violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
On August 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law according to which in the annexed Crimea, Ukrainian licenses for subsoil use cease to operate, and a new licensing procedure is being introduced. According to the law, all Ukrainian licenses issued prior to the occupation of Crimea shall be considered void.
Read alsoNaftogaz raises purchase price of natural gas
As UNIAN reported, in February 2018, the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources stated that after the annexation of Crimea, Russia illegally seized two-thirds of the Ukrainian territory of the Black Sea shelf.
In the spring of 2014, violating the norms of international law, Russia seized the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. As a result of the annexation, a subsidiary company of Naftogaz, Chornomornaftogaz, lost its main assets, as well as access to gas fields on the Black Sea shelf.
To protect its interests in October 2016, Naftogaz filed an arbitration suit against Russia and at the end of September 2017, the state holding company filed a lawsuit against Russia with the International Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, The Netherlands. Naftogaz requires compensation of $5 billion in losses (taking into account interest, the total is $7 billion).