CORONAVIRUS IN CIS: UKRAINE, KAZAKHSTAN, BELARUS, RUSSIA UPDATES
UKRAINE
On March 13, Presidential Decree 87/2020 was published, which spelled out a number of measures for government authorities to counter the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
In accordance with the Decree, starting on March 17,entry into the territory of Ukraine of will be temporarily suspended for foreign citizens.
Exceptions: persons who possess Ukrainian permanent or temporary residence, individual accredited employees of diplomatic missions, consulates, representative offices of international organizations (as agreed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine).
In accordance with the Presidential Decree the duration for restrictive measures is declared as “2 weeks”, however, the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 287-r dated March 14 clearly indicates the end date as April 3, 2020.
With the exception of the closing date, the text of the Order is fully consistent with the text of the Decree.
KAZAKHSTAN
On March 15 President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev issued the Decree No. 285 on the introduction of a state of emergency. The decree is published on the website of the Government of Kazakhstan.
A state of emergency was introduced from March 16 to April 15, and for this period entry into and exit from the country is limited. A detailed description of the restrictions is published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan (http://mfa.gov.kz/en/content-view/-3580).
The main exceptions are:
Who can enter Kazakhstan from abroad: citizens of Kazakhstan, diplomats and delegates having the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, foreigners holding a permanent residence permit in Kazakhstan, foreigners who are family members of Kazakhstani citizens.
Who can leave Kazakhstan without restrictions: citizens of Kazakhstan traveling for medical treatment, foreigners returning to their country of residence.
BELARUS
At the current time the Government of Belarus has not taken restrictive measures against citizens of other countries with regards to the spread of COVID-19.
According to the BelTA News Agency, speaking at a meeting with the head of the Presidential Administration and the Secretary of State for the Security Council, President Alexander Lukashenko noted the following:
“... We do not need to close ourselves from neither the Polish, nor the Russians, nor the Ukrainians. They want to - let them close. We do not need to do this because it is useless. <...> We must act as we act now: the slightest suspicion - we do the medical check up, if it is necessary for quarantine - please, proceed to quarantine."
The Ministry of Health of Belarus recommends medical check-up for citizens who have been in China, Italy, South Korea, Iran, and other epidemiologically unfavorable countries for the past 14 days.
RUSSIA, MOSCOW
On March 14 and 16, new Decrees of the Mayor of Moscow (No. 20-UM and No. 21-UM respectively) were published, introducing a number of changes to the previously issued Decree “On high alert regime implementation” dated March 5, 2020*.
Primary changes:
- the regime of self-isolation for 14 days should be kept not only by citizens who arrived in Moscow from countries of higher risk, but also by people living together with them;
- employers are instructed not to allow workers who are required to self-isolate to the workplace (on the territory of the organization).
- the list of countries upon arrival from which it is necessary to isolate themselves for 14 days is significantly expanded. In accordance with the wording of the Decree, the following countries now make up the list:
China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, France, Germany, Spain, other European Union member states, Serbia, Albania, the United Kingdom, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Andorra, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vatican, San Marino, Croatia, USA.
* You can find more detailed information on the Mayor’s decree dated March 5, 2020 in Intermark newsletter from March 11.
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