Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Yezhel has said he hopes for the return of five lighthouses of the Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) to the ownership of Ukraine's state enterprise Derzhhydrographia, according to News 24 TV Channel.
"When you come into the territorial waters of the state, where it is responsible for all activities, I think it is absurd that they [the lighthouses] belong to another state. I believe that all the [lighthouses] must be owned by our country," Yezhel said.
As reported, on August 2 the Crimean Economic Court upheld earlier rulings of Ukrainian courts that transferred the lighthouses of the Russian Black Sea Fleet to Ukraine, and ordered bailiffs to start the transfer.
Ukrainian courts started making the rulings on this matter in 2006, but Russia refused to abide by their rulings.
Derzhhydrographia appealed to court after the bailiffs refused to start the transfer in September 2010. The bailiffs said that the courts did not say when their rulings must enter into force.
The Crimean Economic Court reminded the bailiffs on August 2 that court rulings come into force the moment they are issued, unless they are challenged.
The court also said that the bailiffs had to ensure the transfer to Ukrainian state ownership of two RS-10 radio-navigation stations in Yevpatoria and the Tarkhankut lighthouse.
