REUTERS
The arbitration proceedings have been lasting for several years.
Executive Director of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine Yuriy Vitrenko has said the company this week will complete drafting documents for hearings within the arbitration proceedings against Russia over the seizure of assets in occupied Crimea, which are estimated at about US$8 billion, including interest.
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"This week we are completing preparations for another submission of documents as part of the arbitration proceedings against the Russian Federation regarding assets in [Russia-occupied] Crimea. The arbitration proceedings have been lasting for several years," he wrote on Facebook on February 10.
It is the Russian Federation rather than Gazprom that is a defendant in the proceedings, he said. Therefore, the arbitration case was not part of the agreement that Naftogaz concluded with Gazprom in December 2019 after the latter had complied with the Stockholm Arbitration's award to pay Ukraine US$4.6 billion in compensation and continued gas transit via Ukraine.
According to Vitrenko, Ukraine's prime minister in his letter to the Naftogaz Supervisory Board noted that the deal with Gazprom had become possible due to the agreements secured by the Ukrainian leaders at the interstate level.
"If this means confidence that such agreements had a decisive role, it would be good if the political leadership right now reached an agreement at the interstate level to oblige Russia to pay us compensation for the loss of the assets in Crimea (approximately US$8 billion, including interest)," he added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia, in violation of international law, occupied Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in the spring of 2014. As a result of this occupation, Naftogaz's subsidiary, Chornomornaftogaz, lost its main assets (in particular, the Petro Hodovanets and Ukraina drilling rigs), as well as access to natural gas fields on the Black Sea shelf.
To protect its interests, Naftogaz in October 2016 initiated arbitration in accordance with the agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the government of the Russian Federation on the promotion and mutual protection of investment, better known as the Russian-Ukrainian bilateral investment agreement.
On September 15, 2017, Naftogaz reported that the state-run holding had filed a lawsuit against Russia demanding US$5 billion in compensation of losses caused by the occupation. Taking into account the expected interest, Naftogaz's claim is estimated at US$8 billion.