Finland Seizes €3.7 Million in Russian Funds to Compensate Naftogaz

Finnish authorities have seized €3.7 million ($4.3 million) in Russian state funds to compensate Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Naftogaz for losses linked to Russia’s actions in occupied Crimea, Finnish public broadcaster Yle reported on Wednesday, June 3.

According to Finland’s National Enforcement Authority, the funds were frozen this year as part of a compensation claim filed by Naftogaz and its subsidiaries against the Russian Federation.

The money originates from a now-defunct European Union cross-border cooperation program involving Finland and Russia. Russia had contributed approximately €3.7 million to the program before launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

After the program was terminated following the invasion, the funds remained under the control of Finland’s Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Finnish authorities have now placed the money under temporary seizure.

Under Finnish law, the measure prevents the owner from transferring or disposing of the assets while legal proceedings continue.

Part of broader effort to enforce compensation ruling

The seizure follows a larger legal battle over compensation awarded to Naftogaz for assets seized by Russia after its occupation of Crimea in 2014.

Last week, Yle reported that the Helsinki District Court approved the enforcement of a 2023 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which ordered Russia to pay approximately €4.3 billion ($5 billion) in compensation to Naftogaz.

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Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov described the decision as a “key victory on the energy front” and said he expects additional rulings in Ukraine’s favor.

According to international law, countries that recognize the arbitration ruling can enforce it within their jurisdictions by seizing Russian state assets.

Russia has appealed the decision.

If the ruling ultimately becomes legally binding, Russian state assets worth more than €4 billion ($4.6 billion) already frozen in Finland could be transferred to Naftogaz as compensation, according to Yle.

Since 2024, Finland’s National Enforcement Authority has seized more than €40 million ($46 million) in Russian assets. Earlier estimates suggested that Finnish authorities froze nearly €190 million ($220 million) worth of Russian assets during the first months following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Naftogaz pursues Russian assets in multiple countries

The Finnish seizure comes as Naftogaz continues efforts to enforce international arbitration awards against Russia and Gazprom across multiple jurisdictions.

In May, the Astana International Financial Centre Court in Kazakhstan recognized a Swiss arbitration ruling ordering Gazprom to pay $1.4 billion to Naftogaz and granted permission to enforce the award in Kazakhstan.

The dispute stems from Gazprom’s refusal to fully pay for gas transit services under the 2019 Russia-Ukraine Gas Transit Agreement. After Russian forces occupied parts of Ukraine in 2022 and rendered the Sokhranivka gas entry point inoperable, Naftogaz continued transit through the Sudzha route. According to the company, Gazprom subsequently stopped making full payments required under the contract.

“The court’s decision in Kazakhstan is another practical result in the process of recovering funds from Gazprom,” Naftogaz CEO Sergiy Koretskyi said at the time.

“We are consistently moving forward and working to enforce the arbitration award across multiple jurisdictions.”

The ruling marked the first time a foreign court formally recognized and allowed enforcement of the arbitration award outside Switzerland, opening another avenue for Naftogaz to pursue Russian state assets abroad.

The latest action in Finland is part of a broader campaign by Ukraine’s state energy company to recover compensation for losses linked to Russia’s actions since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale invasion launched in 2022.

Naftogaz initiated arbitration proceedings in Switzerland under International Chamber of Commerce rules in September 2022. In June 2025, the tribunal issued its final award, finding Gazprom fully liable and ordering repayment of the outstanding transit debt plus interest and arbitration costs. Gazprom’s appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal was dismissed in January 2026, formally confirming the award’s validity.

With Gazprom declining to comply voluntarily, Naftogaz launched an international asset recovery campaign spanning multiple jurisdictions. ADL Disputes and Wikborg Rein are representing Naftogaz in the Kazakh proceedings.

Previously, Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank registered seizure of Russian assets in France worth approximately €87 million ($99 million) as a part of an award of damages against Russia for expropriating the bank’s assets in annexed Crimea.

In 2018, the Arbitral Tribunal in Paris ruled in favor of Oschadbank in its case against the Russian Federation. After annexing Crimea in 2014, Russia illegally expropriated Oschadbank’s assets in Crimea – premises and debts from corporate debtors involved in solar energy projects.

The court decision awarded Ukraine’s bank over $1.1 billion in compensation for damages incurred due to the unlawful expropriation.

Ukraine’s lawsuits to seize Russian assets and make Russia pay for its war create a precedent for Western law, where state property of the aggressor nation is no longer immune from enforcement, Oschadbank’s supervisory board member Roza Tapanova previously told Kyiv Post.