Ukraine's Naftogaz achieves interim victory in the Crimean assets lawsuit against Russia
Naftogaz of Ukraine has achieved an interim victory in The Hague arbitration in its lawsuit against Russia regarding the seizure of assets in annexed Crimea. On Friday, CEO of Naftogaz of Ukraine Andriy Kobolyev stated at a briefing that the Court recognized that Russia had violated a bilateral agreement on reciprocal investment protection.
"Naftogaz of Ukraine received the arbitration decision in The Hague where the lawsuit against Russia on the lost assets in the Crimea and on the shelf of the Black Sea was considered. The decision is positive. We proved that, firstly, the jurisdiction of this tribunal is applied to this case. And secondly, we managed to prove that Russia, as a state, is liable,” he stated.
Kobolyev said that preliminary estimates pegged the compensation at $5 billion dollars, but the actual amount will be determined by the Tribunal at the next meeting. The CEO of Naftogaz hopes that the decision is announced at the beginning of 2020.
In October 2016, Naftogaz and its six subsidiaries, Chornomornaftogaz, Ukrtransgaz, Likvo, UkrGasVydobuvannya, Ukrtransnafta and Gas of Ukraine initiated arbitration proceedings against Russia, demanding payment for damages caused by the illegal seizure of the group's assets in the Crimea.
The Naftogaz’ losses are estimated at about 5 billion dollars without interest.