MOSCOW - The Russian government does not fear that the Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center's church currently under construction in Paris could be seized, including under lawsuits filed by former Yukos shareholders.
“Obviously, (former) Yukos shareholders may take some steps, but it is our diplomatic property. Probably, the French themselves are not interested in that,” a Russian government source said on Thursday.
The source said this after being asked whether Russia feared that the center may be used in disputes, or may be seized, including under former Yukos shareholders’ lawsuits.
“I do not anticipate any special danger here,” he added.
The domes of the church of the Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center in Paris are expected to be mounted at a ceremony on March 19.
French colleagues, who permitted the construction of this facility on the basis of French national legislation, “gave an assessment of its status as part of the Russian Embassy that is similar to our assessment,” the source said.
National courts did not adopt a decision to seize Russia’s buildings or immovable property abroad, he said.
“Even though they have a rich imagination, another thing is how this will correspond, how decisions of French courts may be implemented,” the source said.
