Putin signs amendments to law on fines to violations of regulations governing navigation on Northern Sea Route
MOSCOW. June 23 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law giving border guards the right to review cases involving violations of the regulations governing navigation in the Northern Sea Route waters.
The amendments have been made to the Russian Code of Administrative Violations and give border guards the right to review cases opened on the basis of Article
11.7 Violations of Navigation Regulations. Thus, border guard services will have the right to fine Greenpeace environmentalists for illegal presence in these waters.
Such cases can now be reviewed by judges, officials from Rosrybolovstvo, Rostransnadzor and the main inspectorate on small vessels of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry within their terms of reference.
The explanatory note attached to the bill said that the waters of the Northern Sea Route are located far and are difficult to access to state control and supervisory bodies. At the same time, border guards who can control the observance of navigation rules in these waters are always present in the area.
"The bill aims to ensure Russia's safety in a situation of increasing transport activity in the waters of the Northern Sea Route," the explanatory note attached to the bill says.
Last year, Greenpeace environmentalists ignored the man on navigation on the Northern Sea Route. Their icebreaker Arctic Sunrise entered the Kara Sea despite the Northern Sea Route's refusal to let the vessel enter the region where oil extraction was planned. The vessel was stopped by Russian border guards.