Oleksiy Danilov: The NSDC has adopted a number of important decisions in the spheres of military, energy and state security
The meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine chaired by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a number of important issues in the spheres of military, energy and state security.
Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov announced this after the meeting on Friday.
According to him, six issues were put on the agenda.
The members of the National Security and Defense Council heard reports from Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak, Head of the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Colonel Kyrylo Budanov and Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine Lieutenant General Valerii Kondratiuk.
“Unfortunately, recently there has been a sharp increase in ceasefire violations, intensification of subversive and sniping activities by the armed formations of the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian military are dying – all this required an immediate response from the state leadership”, - Mr. Danilov said.
Decisions on the situation in the Joint Forces Operation area were discussed in secret, therefore they cannot be detailed and disclosed, he said.
At the same time, Mr. Danilov said that “there exists a situation of returning to the NSDC decision of December 5, 2019, which considered five scenarios introduced in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions”. “Now all these five scenarios will be raised, and the relevant structures, officials have been instructed by the President of Ukraine to review all these matters and, if necessary, make new editions, new amendments”, - he stressed.
The next topic of discussion, the NSDC Secretary said, was the sphere of energy security – namely the adoption of measures to protect the property interests of the state.
In order to neutralize threats to energy security, Mr. Danilov reminded that the NSDC decision, which was enacted by the Decree of the President of Ukraine of May 28, 2015, № 298, commissioned the Cabinet of Ministers to take necessary measures to preserve and use a part of oil pipelines with a total length of 1433 km passing through the territory of Ukraine
In particular, the Cabinet of Ministers had to immediately designate a central executive body responsible for the preservation and operation of the Samara-West and Grozny-Armavir-Trudova oil pipelines, and take measures to ensure the protection of the state’s economic interests.
“But in five years, the Government has failed to adequately protect the state’s property interests and to prove in the courts of various instances the right of the state of Ukraine to own and use part of the oil pipelines”, - the NSDC Secretary said. “As a result, state property was in the hands of two owners with foreign registration, but affiliated with two citizens of Ukraine”.
According to Mr. Danilov, under Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine “On Pipeline Transport” “main pipeline transport has important economic and defense significance and is the state property of Ukraine”.
Having considered this issue, he said, the National Security and Defense Council decided to take urgent measures to return the state property to the people of Ukraine. Law enforcement agencies are also tasked with investigating the circumstances under which state property fell into private hands.
The decision of the National Security and Defense Council also imposed sanctions on 8 individuals and 19 legal entities, including companies that own five aircraft. Sanctions are also applied to companies maintaining these aircraft.
The NSDC meeting also covered the situation regarding executive discipline – the implementation of decisions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, enacted by decrees of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The meeting also decided to apply personal special economic and other restrictive measures in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution on the Republics of Mali and Yemen.