French Court Authorises Forced Recovery of $5 Billion from Russia to Ukraine’s Naftogaz

A French court has granted permission to enforce the Hague arbitration award to compensate Naftogaz for $5bn in damages caused by Russia as a result of the occupation of Crimea. 

The Gaze reports on this with reference to the Naftogaz press service.

A court in Paris has granted permission to enforce the Hague arbitration award to compensate for $5 billion in damages caused by the illegal expropriation of Naftogaz Group's assets in occupied Crimea.

‘This result is part of our global campaign to enforce the arbitral award. This is an extremely important legal victory for Naftogaz and five other companies of the group. It allows Naftogaz to start the recovery procedure in France,’ said Roman Chumak, CEO of Naftogaz Group.

As part of this process, Naftogaz has already registered encumbrances on a number of assets owned by the Russian state and located in France, with a total value of more than €120 million, which is called the first step towards enforcing the arbitration award.

The French proceedings are being led by Paris-based dispute resolution law firm Le 16 Law. 

In April 2023, the Arbitral Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ordered Russia to pay $5 billion to Naftogaz to compensate for losses and property damage caused by the occupation of Crimea. 

Arbitral awards can be enforced through the enforcement mechanism. Therefore, if Russia refuses to voluntarily comply with the court's decision, Naftogaz has the right to start the process of recognising and enforcing the decision in the countries where the Russian Federation's assets are located.

In October 2024, a court in Finland ordered the seizure of certain Russian assets in the country to compensate Naftogaz, the first such decision in Europe.