Lipkan I. The Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation as a special subject of international law.

The thesis analyses the institutional basis for OBSEC's formation and functioning. Proceeding from doctrinal interpretation of international organizations' legal nature the author further improves "an international economic organization" definition. The author examines main elements of OBSEC's legal personality, including basic components of its institutional system. OBSEC differs in independent entities within its institutional system with their own working bodies. The author also analyses legal nature of acts, approved within OBSEC's framework. Acts, regulating issues of OBSEC's internal law, have a binding nature whereas legal norms, referred to OBSEC's external law, are classified as enabling legislation and declarative or nonbinding acts by nature. Legal acts made between the European Union and OBSEC confirm that the parties prefer to be governed by soft law norms. The author pays much attention to the analysis of the legal basis for Ukraine's cooperation with OBSEC and to the prospects of Ukraine's participation at economic integration in the Black Sea Region.