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The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has instructed to close fish seaports in Kerch and Sevastopol located in the territory of the Russian-annexed Crimea, until the restoration of Ukraine's constitutional order on the peninsula, according to the government's resolution published on its web portal.
As stated in the explanatory note to the document, the decision was made in view of impossibility to provide service at those seaports for vessels and passengers, handle freight, carry out transport, forwarding and other types of activity. Another reason is attributed to a failure to ensure an adequate safety of navigation and compliance with international agreements that Ukraine has been a signatory to.
In addition, the Ukrainian government has instructed Ukraine's State Agency of Fisheries to take action to inform international organizations about the ports' closure.
Read alsoHarvEast sells Crimean assets due to risks, Russian occupationAs UNIAN reported earlier, on August 15, 2014 the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine jointly with the State Agency of Fisheries prepared a draft resolution to close fish seaports in the Russian-annexed Crimea for the period until the restoration of Ukraine's constitutional order on the peninsula.
In July 2014, Ukraine officially closed trade seaports located in the territory of Crimea (Yevpatoria, Kerch, Feodosia, Yalta and Sevastopol).
Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada officially announced that Crimea and Sevastopol were temporarily occupied by Russia on February 20, 2014.