Court in France has allowed the recovery of $5 billion from Russia for Naftogaz
Kyiv • UNN
A French court has allowed the forced recovery of $5 billion from Russia in favor of Naftogaz. The company has already encumbered Russian assets in France for over 120 million euros.
A French court has allowed the forced recovery from Russia in favor of Naftogaz of $5 billion - the company has encumbered Russian assets in France, the Naftogaz Group reported on Thursday, UNN writes.
The Paris court recognized and granted permission for the forced execution (exequatur) of the Hague arbitration decision on compensation for losses caused by the illegal expropriation of Naftogaz Group's assets in Crimea in the amount of $5 billion
Details
"This result is part of our global campaign to enforce the arbitration decision. This is an extremely important legal victory for Naftogaz of Ukraine and five other companies of the Group. It allows Naftogaz to start the recovery procedure in France," explained Roman Chumak, head of the Naftogaz Group.
As indicated, as part of this process, Naftogaz has already registered encumbrances on a number of assets owned by the Russian state and located in France, with a total value of more than EUR 120 million. This, as noted, is the first step towards enforcing the arbitration decision.
It is reported that the process of obtaining a court decision recognizing and authorizing the enforcement of the final arbitration decision was carried out by the Le 16 Law team entirely on a pro bono basis.
"Naftogaz continues to do everything possible to bring the arbitration decision closer to implementation. We have already had some success in several other jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and Finland. We are determined to recover the full amount of compensation and protect the rights of Ukrainian state-owned enterprises in the international arena," the head of the Naftogaz Group emphasized.
Context
In October 2016, Naftogaz initiated arbitration proceedings against Russia, demanding compensation for Moscow's illegal seizure of the Group's property - in violation of the bilateral investment protection agreement between Ukraine and Russia. Naftogaz was a leading player in the natural gas market in Crimea, engaged in gas exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and distribution. The list of assets included special permits for the use of mineral resources, equipment and infrastructure, rights to operate pipelines and gas storage facilities, stakes in gas pipelines and more than 675 million cubic meters of gas in underground storage facilities.
After many years of arbitration proceedings, on April 12, 2023, the tribunal formed under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague ordered Russia to pay Naftogaz more than $5 billion for violating the terms of the agreement. This amount of payment, which is already the final decision of the arbitration, remains the largest among all claims of investors filed by Ukrainian companies regarding Russia's illegal actions in Crimea.
Recently, the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of the Netherlands rejected the cassation appeal of the Russian Federation regarding the cancellation of the partial decision of the tribunal on jurisdiction and the merits of the case.
Despite the arbitration decision and the ruling of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, Russia refuses to pay Naftogaz the awarded amount. Therefore, Naftogaz has launched an international recovery campaign. The main goal is to ensure the enforcement of the arbitration decision in jurisdictions where Russia has assets.
