Kherson court released the Ukrainian vessel Nefterudovoz 45-M, which was arrested in February 2018 because of illegal supplies of ilmenite to the temporarily occupied territory, Crimea.

First deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, Izet Gdanov informed about it to the website «ATR».

«Nefterudovoz 45-M supplied ilmenite (titanium ore – ATR) to actually temporarily occupied territory, using various schemes. Bypassing the ban, there was the delivery to the temporarily occupied territory. There was a fixation of this fact in January. Afterwards the ship entered the exclusive economic zone of Ukraine, under our control, then our law enforcement bodies joined in, and as a result the ship was arrested. And now we got information that Kherson court decided to release this ship,» Gdanov commented.

According to him, such a situation occurs meanwhile the European companies impose sanctions against ships, which also illegally supplied ilmenite to the peninsula.

«It all happens along with the fact that our European partners impose sanctions against ships that supplied ilmenite exactly the same way, bypassing the ban. For example, two German companies are issued some measures, there is reaction. And we, as the Ukrainian state, continue to trade. Kherson court adopted such a treasonable decision. We are expecting an appeal. The prosecutor’s office should take measures to appeal this process. Let’s see what will happen this week,» added the first deputy.

The ship Nefterudovoz 45-M, which supplied ilmenite to Crimean chemical plant «Crimean Titan», was arrested in February 2018. In June 2018, Kherson court released the ship. The dry-cargo ship had left the port and started to the Bulgarian port, Burgas.

In turn, on July 6, the vessels of two German shipping companies were also incriminated illegal supply of ilmenite to Crimea. According to DFL radio, Hansa Heavy Lift from Hamburg and Heinz Corleis KG from Stade delivered ilmenite to Crimea, bypassing the sanctions. The companies noted that they did not know the ore had appeared in the annexed peninsula. Later, the Hamburg prosecutor’s office confirmed the applications filed against the companies. The German department checks the fact of illegal deliveries to Crimea and violations of the sanctions regime now.