The Paris Court of Justice has recognised and granted permission to enforce the decision of the Hague Arbitration Court to compensate for damages caused by the illegal expropriation of Naftogaz Group’s assets in Crimea in the amount of $5 billion.
This was reported by the press service of Naftogaz.
“This result is part of our global campaign to enforce the arbitration award. 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, CEO of Naftogaz Group.
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 is the first step towards the enforcement of the arbitral award.
Naftogaz Group has already had some success in several other jurisdictions, including the UK 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,” said the Head of Naftogaz Group.
- In October 2016, Naftogaz initiated arbitration proceedings against Russia, claiming compensation for Moscow’s illegal seizure of the Group’s property in violation of the bilateral investment treaty between Ukraine and Russia.
- After years of arbitration proceedings, on 12 April 2023, the tribunal, formed under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, ordered Russia to pay Naftogaz more than USD 5 billion for breach of the treaty.
- Despite the arbitral award, Russia refuses to pay Naftogaz the amount awarded. Therefore, Naftogaz initiated an international collection campaign. The main goal is to enforce the arbitral award in jurisdictions where Russia has assets.