ukraine

The Ukrainian customs on Serpent Island, which is subject to an ongoing protracted litigation between Romania and Ukraine, will be completed by end August, a border patrol official said Tuesday, quoted by Ukrainian agency KrugInform.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree transforming the Serpent Island into a free economic area, official sources in Kiev said Tuesday, quoted by Russian paper Izvestia.

Ukraine’s President Victor Yushchenko said the area of the Bystroye Canal is a sovereign territory where the Ukrainian state is free to unfold a sovereign activity.