Determination of the problem to be solved by the Program

One of the main directions of the state policy on ensuring national security and sovereignty of the state is the protection of its border, on the inviolability of which depends the preservation of the economic, political and territorial integrity of the country.

The relevance of contemporary challenges and threats, especially such as domestic aggression and annexation of individual territories, armed or unarmed provocations, international terrorism, cross-border organized crime, illegal migration and Human trafficking, smuggling activities and drug trafficking are prompting public institutions to seek consolidated measures to ensure the protection of national interests in the field of state border security.

At present, in the context of aggression against Ukraine, measures to protect and defend the state border are carried out both in bilateral and multilateral formats and are strategic priorities.

The security system of the state border of Ukraine is developing dynamically, but there are still a number of factors that are real threats to the security of our borders.

As an example, until now the demarcation of the borders of Ukraine with the Russian Federation has not been carried out. There are also questions about the demarcation of exclusive (maritime) economic zones with the Russian Federation and Romania, the Transnistrian conflict has not been fully resolved. In addition, the activity of cross-border (transnational) criminal groups turns the territory of Ukraine into a corridor for various smuggling between Europe and the Middle East.

Strategic approaches to the process of resolving problematic issues of ensuring national security in the sphere of state border security have gained a universal place in the 21st century in the context of actualization of global global challenges and threats.

For Ukraine, the resolution of problematic issues of ensuring the security of the state border is gaining more and more relevance in the general process related to the formation of a multipolar model of the light system, the aggressive policy of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which leads to the transfer of the existing state borders, the secessionist sentiments in the border regions of Ukraine, which want to revise the appropriateness of part of the state territory, the growing role of financial, economic and energy factors in international relations.

Recently, Ukraine faces external challenges and threats to national security in the sphere of state border security, associated with the Russian aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which cause the need to increase security capabilities and defense of the state border in the general system of ensuring the national security of Ukraine.

The armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which began with the temporary occupation of an integral part of Ukraine — the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city. Sevastopol continues in the east of Ukraine, other threats to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, its independence and existence, the danger of separatism, international terrorism, intensification of smuggling of weapons and means of terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal migration presuppose the need to improve the system of state border protection.

Incompleteness of contractual and legal design and insufficient arrangement of the state border remains one of the potential threats to national interests and national security.

The lack of resources and technical support of integrated border management entities does not allow them to fully respond to potential threats to national security.

Protection of the state border of Ukraine is an integral part of the nationwide system of ensuring national security. One of the components of ensuring the protection of the state border is its engineering and technical arrangement, which during the independence of Ukraine has repeatedly been the subject of consideration by the state leadership and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

In particular, in 2018, in the Analytical Report to the Annual Message of the President of Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine “On the Internal and External Situation of Ukraine in 2018” one of the important directions of security sector reform, which was to be carried out in the near future, was defined: “Providing the State Border Service of Ukraine with all necessary resources to prevent and elimination of crisis situations at the state border, legislative settlement of issues of allocation of land for arrangement of border infrastructure”.

However, only at the end of 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Ensuring Engineering and Maintenance of the State Border” (hereinafter — the Law), which amended, including, the Land Code of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine “On the State Border of Ukraine”” in terms of determining the size of land plots along the state border line, which should be allocated to the State Border Service of Ukraine for engineering and technical arrangement of the state border. In addition, the Law exempted the State Border Service of Ukraine from paying forestry and agricultural losses during the use of land for the needs of military units of the State Border Service of Ukraine.

Also, paragraph 2 of the final provisions of the Law of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine determined within a three-month period from the date of entry into force of the law to approve the state target program of arrangement of the state border for the construction of engineering, technical and fortification structures, fences, border signs, border crossings, communications of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the Program).

The urgency of developing the specified state targeted law enforcement program is due to the need to implement a number of interrelated measures aimed at restoring, arranging and reconstructing the state border, increasing the capacity of authorized bodies of state power to counter existing and potential threats, creating favorable conditions for the development of cross-border cooperation, ensuring socio-economic development of border regions.

The main problems that make it impossible to fully respond to potential threats to national security at the national border and to which the Programme aims to address are:

armed aggression of the Russian Federation and its occupation of the territories of Ukraine;

the presence of attempts to cross the administrative border with the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the line of contact by persons involved in terrorist, extremist and radical groups and illegal movement of weapons, ammunition, explosives and drugs;

increasing the level of potential threats to border security, in particular cross-border crime at the border with European countries, linked to illegal migration, trafficking in human beings, smuggling of arms, ammunition, other means of terrorism and narcotic substances;

intensification of illegal movement across the state border of excisable goods and valuables;

involvement in illegal activities of residents of border areas of Ukraine;

insufficient level of engineering and technical arrangement and logistics of state border protection;

lack of a unified strategic and normative approach to the engineering and technical arrangement of the state border;

unfinished process of demarcation of Ukrainian-Belarusian and Ukrainian-Russian sections of the state border;

lack of an effective mechanism for suddenly arising problems at the state border, which causes the need to provide land along the state border line for permanent use to military units of the State Border Service of Ukraine for engineering and technical arrangement of the state border by local authorities, other central executive bodies, natural and legal persons owned by them;

the threat of loss of Ukrainian territories due to erosion of the coastline on cross-border river sections as a result of floods and floods, meandering of river channels and destruction of banks.

From the experience of other states, it has been established that the arrangement of the state border is carried out in accordance with the existing risks and threats that are inherent in a particular section.

As an example, the Hungarian Border Police guards the border with a length of 2215.2 km, of which the Schengen zone is 1111.5 km (Slovenia - 102 km, Austria - 355 km, Slovakia - 654.5 km) and other sections of 1103.7 km (Ukraine - 136.7 km, Romania - 447.8 km, Serbia 174.4 km, Croatia — 344.8 km).

In terms of engineering and technology, 174.4 km of the Hungarian-Serbian border and about 100 km of the Hungarian-Croatian border are equipped.

In 2015, a line of engineering and technical structures was built on the border with Serbia, equipped with video surveillance and alarm devices. It should be noted that the main factor that prompted the Hungarian Government to take comprehensive measures of engineering and technical arrangement of the Hungarian-Serbian border was the migration crisis of 2015 (during this period more than 2 million migrants entered Hungary, about 10 thousand people crossed the border daily).

In the year of the migration crisis, the Hungarian government mobilized the capacities of domestic enterprises and organizations of various forms of ownership, attracted the capabilities of the engineering units of the Hungarian Armed Forces and in the shortest time (1 year) built engineering barriers with modern surveillance means on the Hungarian-Serbian border 174 km, spending €1 billion.

For the construction of engineering and technical structures, the Government decided to allocate a land plot (strip) along the state border with a width of 60 meters. At the same time, the lands that were owned by individuals and legal entities were leased and the funds paid annually by the Hungarian Government.

The design and construction of engineering barriers with surveillance equipment was carried out by specialists of the Border Police and engineering units of the Hungarian Armed Forces.

The construction of engineering and technical facilities on the Hungarian-Serbian border has significantly reduced the flow of illegal migrants in this direction — almost 6 times (2017 — 19,490 people, 2018 — 3337 people). At the same time, after their introduction, it was possible to significantly reduce the number of border guards to protect this area. Thus, on the site of the border protection unit “Roske” 200 border guards were involved in the construction of engineering structures in 1 shift, after construction — 39 (decrease by 5 times), but the effectiveness of border protection has increased significantly.

The complex of engineering and technical facilities on the Hungarian-Serbian border contains:

the main fence with a height of 4 m, reinforced at the top with a spiral of the type “Egoza”;

rockery road with improved coverage;

rear fence 4 m high;

power line.

It should be noted that Hungarian engineers at the initial stage used a mesh netting on metal poles for the arrangement of the fence. At the same time, in the process of operation, it turned out that illegal migrants easily cut it with the help of simple metal cutting devices (scissors). This in turn led to the need for additional arrangement of the rear fence with sections of the fence made of 8 mm reinforcement.

In addition, the main fence is equipped with CCTV cameras with infrared illumination, loudspeakers, searchlights, a sensitive cable, an electric shock system (voltage 900 V). Such a section of technical equipment is installed every 500 meters. Cameras are able to distinguish an object at a distance of up to 500 m at night.

Along the border, metal towers with a height of 33 m are installed, which are equipped with multi-sensor systems (video camera and thermal imager on one platform), the range of which is 5 — 10 km.

The total on the Hungarian-Serbian border is established

295 infrared surveillance cameras and 89 multi-sensor systems.

After the construction of the barrier fences, the Hungarian border guards were forced to petition the government for the construction of a road along the barriers. During the rains, it was not possible to reach the areas of violations by road.

A denser and more technological arrangement of the borders of European countries is carried out on their border with the Russian Federation, the United States of America is strengthening the arrangement of the border with Mexico.

Analysis of the causes of the problem and justification

the need to solve it

The urgency of the development of the Program is due to the need to implement a number of interrelated measures aimed at arranging the state border, increasing the capacity of authorized bodies of state power to counteract existing and potential threats, preventing loss of territories of Ukraine due to harmful effects of the waters of cross-border rivers.

Armed aggression, international terrorism, intensification of illegal circulation of weapons and means of terrorism across the state border, drug traffic, illegal migration predetermine the need to improve the system of state border protection.

The geographical location of Ukraine makes it attractive for the transit movement of illegal migrants and drugs. At the border, attempts are regularly made to cross it by migrants, as well as illegal movement of goods.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the level of migration to Ukraine from politically unstable states. Through the territory of Ukraine passes one of the five main routes of illegal migration - Central European, which runs through the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia to the countries of Western Europe.

At the same time, the level of financing of measures for the arrangement of the state border is insufficient (financed on average by 0.34% of the total amount of expenses provided for the State Border Service of Ukraine under the code of program classification of expenditures and lending to the state budget 1002030 “Ensuring the fulfillment of tasks and functions of the State Border Service of Ukraine”).

It also requires significant financial resources to implement measures to stabilize the coastline and channels, protect against erosion and reformat the banks of cross-border rivers.

Purpose of the Program

The aim of the Program is to introduce a unified state approach to the engineering and technical arrangement of the state border through the implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Ensuring Engineering and Technical Arrangement and Maintenance of the State Border”.

The specified goal involves the following tasks:

improvement of engineering and technical arrangement of the state border;

completion of the contractual and legal registration of the Ukrainian-Belarusian state border;

stabilization of the coastline and channels, protection against erosion and reshaping the banks of cross-border rivers.

Determination of the optimal solution of the problem based on a comparative analysis of possible options

There are two options for solving the problem.

The first is the continuation of measures to improve the engineering and technical arrangement of the state border by the forces and means of the bodies and units of the State Border Service of Ukraine in accordance with the annual departmental plans of the engineering arrangement of the state border and within the limits of the expenses provided for the State Border Service of Ukraine for the corresponding year, as well as in within the limits of expenditures for the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine to ensure measures for the improvement of the Dnieper river basin.

The disadvantages of this option are:

tasks and measures for the arrangement of the state border are carried out exclusively by the bodies and units of the State Border Service of Ukraine without the involvement (participation) of local authorities, which is insufficient to effectively counter all current challenges and threats on the state border;

the allocation of land for engineering and technical arrangement of the state border will last an indefinite period;

the level of financing of measures for the arrangement of the state border is insufficient (financed on average by 0.34% of the total amount of expenses provided for the State Border Service of Ukraine under the code of program classification of expenditures and lending to the state budget 1002030 “Ensuring the fulfillment of tasks and functions of the State Border Service of Ukraine”);

implementation of measures for stabilization of the coastline and channels, protection against erosion and reformatting of the banks of cross-border rivers is carried out only with the funds of the state budget, which are provided for the activities of the National Targeted Program for the Development of Water Management and Ecological Improvement of the Dnieper River Basin for the period up to 2021, the financing of which is on average 17% of the need.

The advantages of this option are to save the state budget.

The second is the approval of this Concept and, accordingly, the approval of the Program, the implementation of measures for the construction of engineering, technical and fortification structures, fences, border signs, border crossings, communications of the State Border Service of Ukraine, providing in the state budget the necessary expenses for the implementation of the Program under the budget program 1002120 “Measures on engineering and technical arrangement of the state border”.

The advantages of this option are:

effective implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Ensuring Engineering and Technical Arrangement and Maintenance of the State Border”;

clearing border gaps;

improvement of the arrangement of engineering infrastructure along the state border of Ukraine;

fortification of the banks of cross-border rivers, which will protect them from erosion and reformation and, as a consequence, from the loss of territories by Ukraine.

The second option is optimal, provided that it is financed from the funds provided for in the state budget for the corresponding year for ministries and other central executive bodies, as well as other sources not prohibited by law.

Ways and methods of solving the problem, the deadline for the implementation of the Program

The program is expected to be implemented during 2022-2031 by:

completion of the demarcation of the state border with the Republic of Belarus;

carrying out land management work (inventory and development of projects for the allocation of land plots to the bodies of the State Border Service of Ukraine, etc.) within the territories adjacent to the state border;

provision for permanent use to military units of the State Border Guard Service of lands necessary for the arrangement of the border strip, and maintenance of additional engineering and technical structures and fences, border signs, border crossings, communications and other objects;

improvement (increase) of engineering and technical arrangement of the state border with the Russian Federation, the Republic of Poland, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, Romania, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Moldova;

arrangement of the state border by installing additional engineering and technical structures and fences, border signs, clearing border crossings, communications and other objects, as well as by using the latest technological means and applying the results of scientific and technical (experimental) developments;

arrangement of protection against erosion and reshaping of banks on border waters in the basins of trans-border rivers Tisa in Transcarpathian region, West Bug in Volyn and Lviv regions, Xiang in Lviv region, Prut and Siret in Chernivtsi region, Dnipro in Chernihiv region, Danube in Odessa region.

Expected results of the implementation of the Program, determination of its effectiveness

Execution of the Program will allow:

complete the contractual and legal registration of the state border;

improve the engineering and technical arrangement of the state border;

complete the demarcation measures with the Republic of Belarus;

stabilize the coastline and channels, protect the banks of cross-border rivers from erosion and reshaping.

The indicators of the implementation of the program are the quantitative and qualitative indicators that will be indicated in the state target program after the approval of the concept.

Evaluation of financial, material, technical, labor resources required for the implementation of the program

The financial support of the Program is carried out through the funds provided for the ministries and other central executive bodies responsible for its implementation in the state budget for the relevant year and other sources not prohibited by law.

At the same time, the estimated amount of financing of the Program at the expense of the state budget in 2020 prices is 43 108.516 million UAH.

The amounts of financing of the Program shall be clarified during the preparation of the draft State Budget of Ukraine for the relevant year within the total amount of expenses provided for the implementation of the Program.