In addition to other major developments affecting Ukraine that are in the headlines, this is also an important week for Naftogaz and our country for yet another reason.
On Feb. 21 the Arbitration Tribunal in The Hague finally started its hearing to determine the amount of compensation to Naftogaz for the loss of opportunity of using its assets in Crimea.
Our strategically important energy investments became one of the main targets for Russia during the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.
Russia has illegally put its hands on the Ukrainian Crimea and for 8 years now, it has been using what belongs to Ukrainians, in particular, to the national company Naftogaz.
The assets include fields, drilling rigs, underground storage facilities, ships, gas transmission system, and many other facilities that we cannot use at this time.
In this court, Naftogaz is demanding compensation for damages of over $10 billion, including interest.
Reputable international experts shall provide an appropriate assessment of damages in court.
We started working on determining and justifying the amount back in 2015.
I will tell about it in more detail someday.
We expect the arbitration award, hearing on which began today, will be made early next year. Since this is an extremely complex process that requires non-trivial arguments, both legal and economic, for each particular asset.
Russia at the first stage refused to participate in arbitration and refused to participate in the process. Already after the arbitral award was made in favor of Naftogaz, by which Russia was found guilty of expropriating our assets, Russia changed its position and began participating in arbitration. However Russia insisted on changing the procedural schedule in order to have an opportunity to convey its position. Such procedural diversions also affected the duration of the case.
It is symbolic that today’s hearings take place in the so-called Peace Palace, when Ukraine is one step away from war.
Our team of lawyers and I personally will make every effort to make Putin pay dearly for stealing from Naftogaz and from others. We have more than successful experience in fighting against Russia in arbitration, including the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration, which brought Ukraine $ 5 billion, becoming the world’s largest commercial arbitration with claims of the parties for $ 125 billion. However, both the decision in 2018 and the current process, in addition to monetary compensation, demonstrate our strength as a nation that knows how to defend its own.
And I have no doubt that sooner or later the international courts will make a fair decision not only on compensation for material damage suffered by our state due to the annexation of its peninsula, but also on fair punishment for those who forcibly took our land. I hope that Putin will appear before the tribunal, perhaps even here in The Hague.
