We have received information from DIAS Marine Consulting, our correspondents at Odessa, Ukraine, about the current situation in the country.  According to them, the major ports in Ukraine are operational as usual and stable without any interruptions.  No serious problems affecting the vessels’ call has been reported so far.  However, the situation may change rapidly and thus members whose vessels are scheduled to call at any Ukrainian ports are advised to check the most up-to-date information through the local agents, etc.

In the meantime, The Council of the European Union adopted EU sanctions focussed on the freezing and recovery of misappropriated Ukrainian state funds on 5 March, 2014.  18 persons have been identified as responsible for such misappropriation and the assets within the EU of these individuals will be frozen.  The legislative documents including the list of persons subject to sanctions will be published in the EU Official Journal on 6 March, 2014.  Members are advised to check whether no person subject to the sanctions has been involved in their trade.