At the request of Naftogaz, a Finnish court seized certain Russian assets in Finland
28 October 2024 13:42
The Helsinki District Court has granted a petition filed by Naftogaz of Ukraine and five other Naftogaz Group companies and seized certain assets owned by Russia in Finland, Komersant ukrainskyi
reports, citing a statement from Naftogaz Group.
As noted, these are real estate and other Russian assets estimated at tens of millions of dollars.
The company explained that this decision is part of Naftogaz’s global strategy to recover compensation for losses caused by the seizure of the Group’s assets in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in accordance with the decision of the Hague arbitration. It is also the first publicly known successful seizure of assets outside Ukraine to enforce an arbitral award in cases involving claims by Ukrainian companies against Russia over the expropriation of property in Crimea in 2014. It is an interim step towards the actual recovery of assets in favour of Naftogaz Group.
“As Russia refuses to voluntarily pay Naftogaz the funds stipulated by the Hague judgment, we continue to use all available mechanisms to recover them. Today we are one step closer to restoring justice. At the same time, we are taking active steps to enforce the arbitral award in other target jurisdictions where we have Russian assets,” said Oleksiy Chernyshov, CEO of Naftogaz Group.
The interest provided for non-payment of funds in accordance with the arbitral award will continue to accrue until the full payment of compensation under the arbitral award.
It is worth reminding
In October 2016, Naftogaz and six other companies of the Naftogaz Group initiated arbitration proceedings at the Arbitration Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration against the Russian Federation on the basis of the Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Russian Federation on the Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments, also known as the Ukrainian-Russian Investment Treaty.
on 12 April 2023, the Arbitral Tribunal ordered Russia to pay $5 billion in compensation for damages caused by the seizure of Naftogaz Group’s assets in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 2014.
