The Ukrainian Justice Ministry has not received any query from Yukos concerning the ruling of a Belgian arbitration court in the Yukos Universal Limited lawsuit, Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko has said.
When asked on June 22 if the ruling in the Yukos case obliges Ukraine to arrest Russian assets, Petrenko said: “As far as I know, as of today, the plaintiffs haven’t addressed the Ukrainian side to recognize the arbitration court’s ruling as such, which is binding in the territory of Ukraine.”
When asked if the Justice Ministry made any queries on this matter, he said he had no such information.
As reported, on June 17, Russia’s institutions in Belgium, except its diplomatic missions, were notified by bailiffs about Russian state assets at their disposal and their debts to the Russian state being seized. The bailiffs said the seizures were due to a Belgian arbitration ruling of July 18, 2014, in a lawsuit filed by Yukos Universal Limited.
It was reported on June 18 that bailiffs had also started seizing Russian assets in France based on a court ruling.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague as it is not a signatory to the European Energy Charter, and it will defend its position in other courts in due procedure.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on June 19 that Russia’s response to the seizure of its assets abroad will ‘mirror’ the measures taken by the authorities in these countries.
Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said Russia would appeal against the decision on freezing its assets in national courts.
