Ukraine's largest oil and gas company, Naftogaz, sued Russia for $5 billion for lost assets in Crimea due to Russia's 2014 annexation of the peninsula. The corresponding decision was issued by the Arbitration Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. This is stated in the message of the Ukrainian company, which notes that this is a record amount of compensation in favor of the Ukrainian side in the entire history of litigation. The court also obliged the Russian side to pay the legal costs of the Ukrainian side.
“The court ruled that the amount of such compensation should be equal to the fair market value of the assets of Naftogaz until they are expropriated. Although Russia insists that Naftogaz is not entitled to any compensation for the seized assets, the Arbitration Tribunal did not agree with this assertion,” the company said in a statement.
Prior to the annexation of Crimea, Naftogaz operated 17 fields, four drilling rigs, a gas transportation system that included pipelines, underground storage facilities and a fleet of technological vessels. Formally, the assets belonged to the Chernomorneftegaz company, which was nationalized by the Crimean government in 2014 and later taken into state ownership by Russia.
Moscow did not take part in the trial, as it did not recognize its jurisdiction in this matter. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov assured that the Kremlin will study the decision, but did not give any specifics on the issue. At the same time, the court decision makes it possible to seize part of Russian assets abroad and use the proceeds from their sale to pay compensation to the Ukrainian side.
