NSDC urged to resolve the problem of managing arrested Russian vessels
9 December 2024 14:56
The ARMA and the Shipping Administration have issued a joint statement to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, in which they draw attention to the need to resolve the issue of managing seized Russian vessels. This is stated in a statement posted on the websites of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) and the Shipping Administration of Ukraine, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to the statement, resolving the situation with the management of Russian ships and vessels is a matter of national security.
The Shipping Administration also draws attention to the fact that the storage of arrested vessels at ports’ berths harms not only the economic activities of the port, but also the vessels themselves lose their economic value over time.
The report notes that the joint appeal of the Shipping Administration and the ARMA to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine was preceded by dozens of court rulings on the transfer of seized Russian ships, tankers and other vessels that may contain dangerous goods.
The urgency to resolve the situation with the management of Russian seized ships is explained by the need to relocate the vessels to ensure investment attractiveness and state budget revenues, as well as to prevent the loss of both the ships and tankers and revenues from their management.
The authors of the appeal to the National Security and Defense Council also refer to the position of the Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba, who stated that “in order to form a unified state policy on compensation for damage caused by Russian armed aggression and to fill the state budget, the Ministry of Development advocates a change in the form of management of seized assets – they must be officially prepared for sale.”
“Due to downtime, the berths are overloaded, the vessels themselves deteriorate and lose value, significant funds are spent on their storage, and there is a constant risk of losing confiscated vessels due to shelling of port infrastructure. This, in turn, poses a threat to the national security of Ukraine, so it was decided to appeal to the National Security and Defense Council to provide legal grounds for the sale of the seized vessels,” emphasized Oleksiy Kuleba.
The Asset Recovery and Management Agency also appealed to the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, as the subject of the initiative to put it on the agenda of the NSDC meetings, to support the initiative to change the way ARMA manages seized vessels exclusively through their sale and to ensure the interests of the state.
As it is known, in October 2022, the Asset Recovery and Management Agency received 9 ships belonging to Russian companies under its management. The total cost of the ships is over UAH 532 million. As the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reported at the time, the arrested vessels arrived in Ukraine in late 2021 and early 2022. According to law enforcement officials, the Russian companies that owned these vessels paid taxes and filled the Russian budget, which actually provided financial assistance to the armed forces of the aggressor country.
The vessels were seized as part of a criminal investigation into the financing of actions committed with the aim of forcibly changing or overthrowing the constitutional order or seizing state power, changing the boundaries of the territory or state border of Ukraine.
