A Dutch court has confirmed the legality of the Hague Arbitration decision on compensation to Naftogaz for seized assets in Crimea.
The Supreme Court of the Netherlands refused to satisfy the cassation appeal of the Russian Federation to cancel the partial decision of the Hague Arbitration on compensation for damage caused by the illegal expropriation of the assets of the Naftogaz group in Crimea.
Thus, the Dutch courts for the second time and finally confirmed the legality and force of the Partial decision of the arbitration tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Naftogaz noted.
According to the acting Chairman of the Board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine Roman Chumak, this decision strengthens the position of the Naftogaz group in enforcement proceedings to collect debts from Russia for the illegal seizure of assets in Crimea.
Background
In October 2016, Naftogaz and six other companies of the Naftogaz Group initiated arbitration proceedings at the Arbitration Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration against the Russian Federation on the basis of an agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the government of the Russian Federation on the promotion and mutual protection of investments.
Naftogaz asked the Arbitration Tribunal to oblige the Russian Federation to pay compensation for violation of the investment protection agreement, including 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 Arbitration Court issued a partial decision in favor of Naftogaz, in which it confirmed its jurisdiction to hear the case and found that Russia had violated 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 damage suffered by Naftogaz Group. In July 2022, the Hague Court of Appeal confirmed the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Court in this case.
On April 12, 2023, the Arbitration Tribunal ordered Russia to pay $5 billion. compensation for damage caused by the seizure of assets of Naftogaz Group companies in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in 2014. The arbitral award came after hearings to determine the amount of compensation ended in March 2022 amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Source: Racurs
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