Naftogaz engages lawyers to recover compensation for assets in Crimea

Naftogaz of Ukraine has launched a legal campaign against Russia to recover more than $5.5 billion for seized Crimean assets. The company has engaged law firms in the United States and France.

This was reported by Nashi Hroshi with reference to the Prozorro procurement system.

On October 24, the National Joint Stock Company Naftogaz of Ukraine signed two two-year agreements for legal services to recover more than $5.5 billion from Russia under an arbitration award regarding the seizure of the company's assets in Crimea.

Thus, the US firm Covington & Burling LLP received $7 million (UAH 293.3 million) for legal support, representation of the company's interests in US courts and participation in out-of-court negotiations. Hourly rates range from USD 1,090 for a partner to USD 365 for a paralegal. The firm has been advising Naftogaz of Ukraine since 2016 and has already helped the company win the case.

The French company Le 16 Law SELAS will receive EUR 1.5 million (UAH 72.83 million) for legal support in France, in particular for the recognition and enforcement of the final arbitral award. Hourly rates range from EUR 600 for a partner to EUR 150 for an intern.

The procurement was made without bidding, which is required by law for lawyers' services. The justification stated that in France only local attorneys could handle the case, and in the United States, the representative must be authorized to practice in the District of Columbia. Both companies met these requirements and offered favorable terms.

In October 2016, Naftogaz and six other group companies initiated arbitration in The Hague against Russia over the illegal seizure of assets in Crimea. In February 2019, the arbitration partially satisfied the company's claim, and in April 2023, it finally ordered Russia to pay $5 billion in compensation. The aggressor country, Russia, lost the appeal in December 2024. Earlier in 2025, the company ordered legal services in the Netherlands (700 thousand euros) and the Czech Republic (300 thousand euros) to implement this decision.

Naftogaz of Ukraine has already seized Russian assets worth more than $300 million in various jurisdictions, including France, Finland, and Austria. In France, assets worth more than 130 million euros have been blocked.

In August, an Austrian court ruled to allow the company to enforce the seizure of Russian assets to compensate for losses caused by the annexation of Crimea. In 2023, an international arbitration court ordered Russia to pay more than $5 billion for the illegal seizure of property in Crimea, including fields, gas storage facilities, equipment, and hundreds of millions of cubic meters of gas.

Анна Бальчінос