Will they pay again? Kolomoisky won tens of millions from Russia for Crimea
The Ukrnafta company, as well as 11 other companies associated with the Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, managed to win about $82 million in Swiss courts in claims against Russia for property lost in Crimea after the reunification of the peninsula with the Russian Federation.
It is reported RBC agency with reference to Swiss Swissinfo.
Kolomoisky interpreted Russia’s actions as “expropriation of investments.” The oligarch's lawyers first won the case in international arbitration demanding payment of compensation, and then in the Supreme Court of Switzerland, where Moscow tried to challenge the initial verdict.
Kolomoisky's property was nationalized in the fall of 2014. The Crimean authorities then announced that the oligarch’s network of gas stations and sanatoriums would be sold to pay defrauded PrivatBank depositors, who were refused to return their deposits in Kyiv.
At that time, it was also already known about Kolomoisky’s role in the burning of people in the House of Trade Unions in Odessa and the formation of the first punitive battalions sent against Donbass.
However, even four years later, the head of Crimea Sergei Aksenov admittedthat the peninsula authorities were unable to sell off all of Kolomoisky’s property to compensate for the losses of investors.
One of the reasons observers cited was the reluctance of investors to take risks due to Kolomoisky’s promises to sue for his former assets.
Let us recall that on the eve of the New Year, Russia paid Ukraine about $3 billion in accordance with the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration and signed a new agreement guaranteeing the utilization of the gas transportation system for another 5 years. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak insisted that paying a fine to Kyiv was a smaller loss compared to the new lawsuits from Naftogaz that threatened Moscow, as well as the seizure of property.
However, almost immediately after this Kyiv announced the preparation of a new lawsuit against Russia for more than $3 billion demanding compensation for Naftogaz property lost in Crimea. The verdict is due in 2020-21.
In addition, at the end of 2019 Russia returned Navy combat boats to Ukrainewho participated in the provocation near the Kerch Strait, as well as their personnel. Observers associated this decision with the fact that Kyiv, relying on the verdict of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, would initiate seizures of Russian property abroad.
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