On 6 December 2018 the Ukrainian parliament adopted Ukraine’s Contiguous Zone Law (the “Law”) that governs the exercise by Ukraine of its sovereign powers with respect to Ukraine’s maritime contiguous zone.

Ukraine is a coastal state bordered by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Following the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (ratified by Ukraine in 1999), the Law provides that Ukraine’s contiguous zone extends 24 nautical miles from the baseline for measuring the breadth of Ukraine’s territorial sea.

According to the Law, Ukrainian state bodies have the right to enforce local customs, immigration, fiscal and sanitary laws within the contiguous zone and prosecute any violations of these laws. Furthermore, the Ukrainian Sea Guard (a division of the State Border Service) has the right to inspect, detain or arrest the ships or their crew members deemed to have violated the above mentioned laws, as well as to conduct hot pursuit of such ships.

The Law will come into effect upon signing and promulgation by the President of Ukraine.

For more information on this law and how it might affect your business, please contact authors of this publication.

Authors:

Olexander Martinenko, Senior Partner, olexander.martinenko@cms-cmno.com

Olga Shenk, Senior Associate, olga.shenk@cms-cmno.com

Vladyslav Kurylko, Associate, vladyslav.kurylko@cms-cmno.com