Kyiv will demand compensation from Russia over Ukraine’s losses due to construction of the Kerch Bridge
Kyiv intends to demand compensation from Moscow for the losses of Ukrainian ports in Mariupol and Berdyansk due to Russia's plans to limit navigation through the Kerch Strait during construction of an arch of the bridge to the Crimea, Deutsche Welle reported with reference to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s response to the news agency’s request.
The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Yuriy Lavrenyuk had announced earlier that Russia’s construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait would reduce the profitability of Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea.
The Kerch Strait will be closed for 23 days in August-September 2017 because of the bridge construction. The bridge arches will be built during that period. According to Lavrenyuk, this will not only slow down the operation of ports in Berdyansk and Mariupol but it will also reduce the profitability of metallurgical enterprises in the region. Lavrenyuk said he considered it "unacceptable."
According to DW, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has already calculated that Kyiv’s losses from Russia's construction of the bridge across the Kerch Strait would amount to 500 million UAH or nearly $20 million.
The ministry also noted that they continue to collect evidence of Russia’s violations of international conventions, including in the Kerch Strait. "Russia’s unilateral activities cause physical changes in the sea environment of the Ukrainian water area," the newspaper quotes the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's response.
Ukraine initiated a lawsuit against the Russian Federation in 2016. It states that after the annexation of the Crimea by Russia, Moscow has been violating the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea by constructing the bridge across the Kerch Strait. In early 2017, the UN formed a special international tribunal for consideration of this claim.
Ukraine asks the arbitration court to confirm its rights as a coastal state and oblige Russia to stop "unlawful actions" in the respective maritime areas, to provide "guarantees of their non-reoccurrence" and to compensate Kyiv for all the losses caused by Moscow.
Construction of the Kerch Strait bridge began in 2016. The cost of construction is estimated at almost 228 billion rubles or almost $3.9 billion. The general contractor for the construction of the bridge is Arkady Rotenberg’s LLC Stroygazmontazh.