Austrian court allows Naftogaz to seize Russian assets as compensation for annexation of Crimea

More than 20 Russian real estate properties in Austria. They are to be sold at auction. The total value exceeds EUR 120 million.

An Austrian court ruled to allow Ukrainian Naftogaz to enforce the recovery of Russian assets to compensate for losses due to the annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

In 2023, an international arbitration court ordered Russia to pay Naftogaz more than $5 billion for the illegal seizure of property in Crimea. The confiscated property included fields, gas storage facilities, equipment, and hundreds of millions of cubic meters of gas.

Similar actions are already taking place in other countries. According to Naftogaz CEO Serhiy Koretsky, Russia will definitely pay - it's just a matter of time.

The Naftogaz team has won on the energy front. Despite Russia's attempts to obstruct justice, the Arbitration Tribunal ordered Russia to compensate Naftogaz for losses of $5 billion. This refers to the consequences of Russia's seizure of our assets in Crimea in 2014. Now Russia has to comply with this decision in accordance with its obligations under international law," commented Oleksiy Chernyshov, CEO of Naftogaz Group.

The Kremlin refuses to pay voluntarily. Ukraine has launched an international campaign to recover Russian assets around the world. Law firms have taken up the case and have already achieved the first results.

REFERENCE. The arbitral award was made after hearings to determine the amount of compensation, which ended in March 2022 amid Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In October 2016, Naftogaz and six other companies of the Naftogaz Group initiated arbitration proceedings (PCA case No. 2017-16) 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. Naftogaz is asking the arbitration tribunal to order the Russian Federation to pay compensation for violations of the BIT, including the illegal expropriation of Naftogaz's strategically important energy investments, which were one of the main targets of the Russian Federation in Crimea in 2014.

Ukrainians believe in victory and are bringing it closer every day. When it comes to the results of the war, one often hears the idea of reparations and contributions, and these concepts are often used together.

Олександра Горст