The District Court of Helsinki has sustained a motion of Naftogaz of Ukraine NJSC and another five companies, which are part of Naftogaz Group, and ordered the freezing of certain assets owned by Russia on the territory of Finland.
The relevant statement was made by Naftogaz Group’s press service, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
The above refers to the real estate and other assets estimated at dozens of millions of dollars.
This decision is part of Naftogaz’s global strategy to recover compensation for losses caused by the seizure of assets of the Group’s companies in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea following a ruling from The Hague arbitration.
This is also the first publicly known successful seizure of assets outside the country to enforce an arbitration award in cases of lawsuits by Ukrainian companies against Russia regarding the expropriation of property in Crimea in 2014. It is an intermediate step on the way to the actual recovery of assets in favor of Naftogaz Group.
“Since Russia refuses to voluntarily pay Naftogaz the funds stipulated by The Hague ruling, 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 arbitration award in other target jurisdictions involving Russian assets,” Naftogaz Group Board Chairman & CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov noted.
The interest provided for non-payment of funds pursuant to the arbitration award will be accumulated until the full payment of compensation under the arbitration award.
In Finland, Naftogaz Group’s interests are represented pro bono by the lawyers of HPP Attorneys, Mikko Leppä and Tatu Jaarinen, with the support of Covington & Burling, which is the main legal advisor for coordinating Naftogaz’s international enforcement efforts.
A reminder that, in October 2016, Naftogaz and another six companies, which are part of Naftogaz Group, initiated arbitration proceedings against the Russian Federation at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) based on the agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Russian Federation on the encouragement and mutual protection of investments.
Naftogaz requested that the PCA oblige Russia to pay compensation for the violation of the investment protection agreement, in particular for the illegal expropriation of Naftogaz’s strategically important energy investments, which became one of Russia’s main targets in Crimea in 2014.
In February 2019, the PCA issued a partial award in favor of Naftogaz, confirming its jurisdiction over the case and establishing that Russia had breached its obligations under the Investment Protection Agreement by illegally expropriating Naftogaz’s investments in Crimea.
The second stage of the arbitration proceedings involved determining the amount of compensation for the losses suffered by Naftogaz Group. In July 2022, the Hague Court of Appeal confirmed the jurisdiction of the PCA in this case.
On April 12, 2023, the PCA ordered Russia to pay USD 5 billion in compensation for the losses caused by the seizure of the assets of Naftogaz Group’s companies in Crimea in 2014. The arbitration award came after hearings to determine the amount of compensation, which ended in March 2022 against the backdrop of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Partner news
Source: At Naftogaz’s request, court in Helsinki freezes certain Russian assets in Finland
