Board Chairman of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy Andriy Kobolev predicts that hearing of a lawsuit against Russia where Naftogaz demands to refund losses of around $2.6 billion caused by the unlawful seizure of the holding’s assets due to the annexation of Crimea would last two or three years.
“I expect that this lawsuit would take from two to three years. I think that we have high chances to win,” he said on Channel 5 TV late on Thursday.
He said that if arbitrators satisfy the claims of the Ukrainian holding against Russia, it would be hard to execute the decision.
“If the lawsuit is compared with a lawsuit against Gazprom in Stockholm, the important thing is that it is against the state of Russia that has a sovereign immunity, and the execution of the decision would be a hard task. It is different from the situation with Gazprom where there is a legal entity that has assets abroad and where the decision can be traditionally executed by force,” Kobolev said.
“Taking into account the position of Russia in the Yukos lawsuit, the collecting of the funds will be difficult. Practice shows that these things should be done, as finally a chance to get the compensation appears,” he said.
Kobolev said that Naftogaz and its subsidiaries demand to refund a loss of Crimean assets in the gas transport infrastructure, underground storage facilities and gas stored in it, gas producing assets, including drilling rigs.
