Austrian court allowed Naftogaz to seize over 120 million euros of assets from Russia

The Austrian court allowed Naftogaz to seize more than 120 million euros of assets from Russia. This concerns the encumbrance of more than 20 Russian real estate objects in Austria, UNN reports with reference to Naftogaz.

DetailsAs reported by the company, the Naftogaz group received permission from the District Court of Vienna (Austria) for the forced execution of the arbitration award against Russia (“Crimean Decision”) for an amount exceeding 5 billion US dollars.

… the court allowed the encumbrance of more than 20 Russian real estate objects on the territory of Austria, which will be sold through an auction. The total value of these assets exceeds 120 million euros. Similar actions are ongoing in other jurisdictions 

Naftogaz initiated the collection of 1.3 billion dollars from Russian Gazprom24.06.25, 14:02 • 3006 views

Another practical step towards collecting more than $5 billion from Russia for the illegally seized assets of the Naftogaz Group in Crimea. Similar actions are ongoing in other jurisdictions. Russia will pay for everything. Sooner or later. Absolutely! 

ReferenceIn October 2016, Naftogaz initiated arbitration proceedings against Russia, demanding compensation for Moscow’s illegal seizure of the Group’s property – in violation of the bilateral agreement on investment protection between Ukraine and Russia. Naftogaz was a leading participant in the natural gas market in Crimea, carrying out activities in exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and distribution of gas. The list of property included special permits for subsoil use, equipment and infrastructure, rights to operate pipelines and gas storage facilities, shares in ownership of gas pipelines and more than 675 million cubic meters of gas in underground storage facilities.

After many years of arbitration proceedings, on April 12, 2023, the tribunal consisting of Judge Ian Binnie (C.C., K.C.), Dr. Charles Poncet and Dr. Mai Stanivukovich, formed under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, ordered Russia to pay Naftogaz more than 5 billion US dollars for violating the terms of the agreement.

This amount of payment, for which there is already a Final Arbitration Award, remains the largest among all investor claims filed by Ukrainian companies regarding Russia’s illegal actions in Crimea.

The final arbitration award on damages was made after an interim Partial Award, in which the tribunal recognized its jurisdiction to hear Naftogaz’s claims and found that Russia was responsible for the expropriation of the company’s property.

Recently, the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of the Netherlands rejected the cassation appeal of the Russian Federation regarding the annulment of the Partial Award of the tribunal on jurisdiction and the merits of the case.

Despite the arbitration award and the decision of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, Russia refuses to pay Naftogaz the awarded amount. Therefore, Naftogaz initiated an international collection campaign. The main goal is to ensure the enforcement of the arbitration award in jurisdictions where Russia has assets.

Naftogaz is represented in this case by the law firm Covington & Burling, including David Pinsky, Clovis Trevino, Paris Aboro and Dean Acheson.