Naftogaz chief: The Hague court orders Russia to pay company USD 5 billion

A court in The Hague, the Netherlands, has ordered Russia in an arbitration ruling to pay USD 5 billion (CZK 106 billion) in compensation for unlawfully expropriating the assets of Ukrainian state-owned gas company Naftogaz in Crimea in 2014. The head of the Ukrainian company announced this today on Twitter. Russia has not yet commented on his remarks, Reuters reported.

„More rulings in Ukraine's favor will come from The Hague,“ Naftogaz chief Oleksiy Chernyshov said on the company's website.

He called it a „key victory on the energy front“. Russia, which launched its military invasion of Ukraine last February, annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014 in violation of international law.

„Despite Russia's efforts to obstruct justice, the arbitration tribunal has ordered Russia to compensate Naftogaz for its losses in the amount of USD 5 billion,“ the company said in a statement.

The arbitration award was issued after hearings to determine the amount of compensation, according to the Ukrainian company. Those proceedings concluded last March.