Miller Magazine Issue:114 June 2019

77 ARTICLE JUNE 2019 From the beginning of Russian military aggression in the Crimean Peninsula, the international community’s positi- on has been clear in condemning Russia’s interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs and the violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty. The international community demanded that the Russian Federation comply with in- ternational regulations and obligations, inter alia, under the framework of the Budapest Memorandum. These de- mands were rejected by Russia on the grounds that the exit of Crimea from Ukraine was unrelated to the obliga- tions set out in the Budapest Memorandum. CRIMEA IMPACT No doubt the annexation of Crimea affected trade in Black Sea Region countries. Today, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and the Danube Region countries together make up around 40 per cent of the global wheat trade. The Black Sea Region is the runner-up (after the Persian Gulf Region) in oil and natural gas resources. It is also replete with proven reserves of minerals, metals and other natu- ral resources. The Black Sea is an inland sea, with ports located in many coastal cities, such as Batumi, Burgas, Constanta, Kerch, Novorossiysk, Odessa, Samsun, Sevas- topol, Sochi, Sukhumi, Trabzon and Varna. The military conflict in eastern Ukraine and the tra- de embargo against Russia had a significant impact on container turnover in the countries of the Black Sea Re- gion. The total throughput of containers in 2015 did not exceed 2.3 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU). In addition, due to low freight and charter rates, the majority of container lines operated at best at breake- ven. However, by the end of 2016, almost all Black Sea Region countries had increased traffic of loaded conta- iners. According to the Ukrainian Sea Ports Administ- ration, Black Sea Region ports showed growth, which allowed them to restore the positions lost in 2015. One notable event of 2016 was a forced change in export routes due to the transit embargo imposed by Russia. The change complicated significantly the routes of Uk- rainian trucks and railcars carrying goods to Kazakhstan, Central Asia and other states through its territory early