The NSDC approved the Defense Plan of Ukraine, Information Security Strategy, Biosafety and Biological Security Strategy, applied sanctions against some individuals and legal entities

Chaired by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the National Security and Defense Council at its meeting approved the Defense Plan of Ukraine, Information Security Strategy, Biosafety and Biological Security Strategy, applied sanctions against some individuals and legal entities.

Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov reported this during a briefing after the meeting.

According to him, the NSDC considered secretly and approved the Defense Plan of Ukraine, which implements the principle of comprehensive defense of the state, introduced by the Military Security Strategy of Ukraine.

“This is the first such fundamental document in the history of our country. We have a clear plan for coordinated cooperation between state authorities and defense forces”, - he said.

The purpose of the Biosafety and Biological Security Strategy approved at today’s meeting, the NSDC Secretary reported, is to gradually create a single system of biosafety and biosecurity, taking into account current threats.

Speaking about another Strategy approved today, the Information Security Strategy, the NSDC Secretary noted that this document is extremely relevant given the growing number of special information operations by the Russian Federation.

According to Mr. Danilov, a number of sanction issues were included in the agenda.

In particular, sanctions were imposed on 237 people in connection with the elections to the State Duma of the Russian in the temporarily occupied Crimea and the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Also, the NSDC Secretary informed, the Council decided to apply sanctions against the Russian company “Mere”. Moreover, following the proposals of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the NSDC of Ukraine applied sanctions to the Republic of Yemen.

According to the Council’s Secretary, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova provided information on the investigation of cases under Article 111 “Treason” of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

“1600 cases under this article have been initiated since 2014, 400 people are on the wanted list. However, there is a problem that most of the cases are initiated against people in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions”, - the NSDC Secretary noticed emphasizing that this issue was taken under closer control as instructed by the President of Ukraine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba and Minister of Justice Denys Malyuska informed about the hearings in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea concerning the case of Ukraine against the Russian Federation on the detention of Ukrainian naval vessels and their crews. “This issue is under the control of the President of Ukraine. We will defend our country’s interests”, - he said.

The report of Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Roman Abramovsky on the status of implementation by this Ministry of the NSDC decisions was also heard at the meeting. According to the NSDC Secretary, the state of implementing Presidential decrees and the NSDC by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine is extremely unsatisfactory and should be discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Head of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine Roman Opimakh informed about the state of affairs and additional measures to strengthen state supervision in the field of subsoil use. “Revenues from this structure in 2020 amounted to 28,9 billion hryvnias, this year we expect at least 50 billion hryvnias”, - the Secretary of the Council pointed out.

According to him, from November 1, a public portal will be launched within the “COTA” information-analytical system, which will provide information, in particular, from the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine on companies in the field of subsoil use and issued licenses.

The NSDC members heard information from Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky, Head of the State Customs Service Pavlo Ryabikin, and Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Serhiy Deyneko on the status of implementation of the NSDC protocol resolution of September 17, 2021, on implementing some decisions of the NSDC of Ukraine aimed at strengthening the fight against smuggling and “thieves in law”.

According to the NSDC Secretary previous decisions of the Council contained errors in relation to 108 people identified as “thieves in law”. “The errors were corrected. According to the Minister, 8 employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who were preparing these decisions were punished for it”, - he said.

Mr. Danilov reported that representatives of the Odesa customs and the Security Service of Ukraine were invited to consider the issue of combating smuggling at customs. “There are some shifts in this area. Revenues to the budget were increased by 47 billion hryvnias”, - he said adding that the President of Ukraine “came up with a proposal to strengthen customs staffing”.

The NSDC Secretary also presented a report on improving the effectiveness of decisions taken by the NSDC of Ukraine on the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions).