Ex-Yukos shareholders have made the arrest of Russian property in Belgium. And the Russian state assets and funds are withdrawn not only from their own government agencies, but also from organizations such as the Russian Orthodox Church. According to political analysts, this powerful information stuffing eve SPIEF is an attempt to torpedo the Forum, and in addition – a signal that can occur if a claim for compensation for the Crimea will give Ukraine.
In Belgium, at the suit of ” Daughter “Yukos begin to arrest Russian property. On Wednesday told “Interfax” referring to the representative offices of bailiffs’ Marc Sacre – Stefan Sacré – Piet De Smet. ” Russian institutions in Belgium received on June 17 ordered the arrest in their possession the property of the Russian Federation. Given the list of bailiffs’ organizations are required within two weeks to declare at their disposal cash, property of the Russian Federation and the debt to the Russian Federation.
The list, according to “Interfax”, we were almost all large banks registered in Belgium, such organizations as “Eurocontrol” relating to air traffic over Europe and all of Russia’s representative (except protected diplomatic immunity), up to the Archbishopric of Brussels and Belgium Russian Orthodox Church, as well as representative offices of non-governmental organizations and the media.
«Of course, we have the opportunity to appeal this decision”, – quotes “Interfax” the representative of the Ministry of Justice.
The “Aeroflot “” Gazeta.ru “said that no documents about the arrest of property in the territory of Belgium have not received.
«had also just learned from the Internet,” – said “Gazeta.ru” the Archbishop of Brussels and Belgium Simon (Ishunin).
According to him, in Belgium at the 17 parishes of the diocese, “Come good, recently bought a church in Antwerp.” But all of them are financed by donations and registered in the Belgian company organized under the laws of the EU. “We have nothing from the Moscow Patriarchate,” – he stressed. In Belgium there Mission of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European Institutions, but this institution does not apply to the Belgian diocese.
In the summer of last year, the Hague tribunal sentenced Yukos Universal Limited $ 1,85 млрд ( 1.6 billion euros) as part of the case for compensation to former shareholders of Yukos for “expropriation of investment.” By the decision of The Hague, only the Russian Federation has to pay $ 50.085 billion (originally, however, the plaintiffs demanded $ 100 billion).
The basic amount for the verdict of the Hague court to get Cyprus Hulley Enterprises (structure of GML, it must be paid $ 39.97 billion). Another $ 8.2 billion awarded to the Veteran Petroleum (pension fund Yukos also registered in Cyprus), as a subsidiary of Yukos, the company Yukos Universal Limited, should receive $ 1.85 billion.
YUL appealed to the Court of Arbitration Belgium (by the decision of which the bailiff), demanding the arrest of the property, as doubts that the Russian Federation will pay the debt. Russian decision to perform really Hague refused, the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that the Hague arbitration did not provide an objective and impartial examination of the Yukos affair.
«No one wants to arrest the property, obviously, all hoping just to get money, and now realized that will not work “, – said political analyst Alexei Makarkin. Seizure of property is certainly worsen relations between Russia and Europe, but as Makarkin says, “they are very bad».
Belgium set a precedent and though, as the political scientist, it does not mean that all other countries will follow its example it would be impossible to predict when and who wants to arrest Russian property.
«The rationale for the seizure of assets is called the fact that” the Russian government has repeatedly stated that it considers the judgment of the ECHR in the case of “Yukos” purely political “, and the budget of the Russian Federation in 2015 there is no indication of its execution” – said the head of “political expert group” Konstantin Kalachev. “We can not consider this a purely judicial decision. The political component is obvious there, “- says Kalachev.
– There is a reason, and there are reasons. It’s not even in Ukraine already. The fact that Russia wants to show her vulnerability “- said Kalachev.
Not all that arrest, eventually will be sold for debts, said Makarkin.
«sued former Yukos shareholders is the Russian Federation, and are subject to arrest only assets, 100% owned by the Russian Federation, – says partner at the law firm Lidings Andrey Zelenin. – However, it is doubtful that Belgium will be able to arrest the assets of the Russian Federation in an amount sufficient to meet the demands ».
Earlier attempts to arrest Russian property abroad with a view to selling success did not end, and then the amount was much more modest. For example, a German businessman Franz Sedelmayer tried to seize more than 2 million euros in compensation for investment., Lost in Russia in 90 years. He won several processes in Germany and Sweden, but could not fulfill the court decisions, as Russian property in these countries is not enough to fully satisfy its requirements.
No better was the situation at the Swiss Noga, which since the early 90’s years and until the end of the 2000s tried to obtain compensation for unlawful, in its view, the actions of the Russian authorities. Noga demanded compensation of $ 300 million. In 1993, the court granted the Luxembourg company and seized the assets of Luxembourg Russian government, central bank, VEB and VTB. However, later Russia succeeded in removing the arrest.
Andrey Zelenin believes that the current situation will be resolved in a similar manner. “Most likely, the issue will be resolved in the coming days, through diplomatic channels, as it has happened before,” – says the lawyer.
Alexei Makarkin warns that the response of the Russian Federation may be, on the contrary, asymmetric. “There may be tax violations in Belgian companies operating in Russia, to send a fire or sanitary inspection”, – the analyst believes.
Expert National Energy Security Fund, a political scientist Igor YUSHKOV said that the statement on the arrest of Russian assets on the eve of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum can be seen as an attempt to torpedo the SPIEF.
According to the analyst, stuffing information is aimed at foreign companies to show that the Russian partners (namely state-owned companies) are not reliable, and the property can be seized. In addition, this theme will now become the dominant media, distracting from the real deals to be concluded during the SPIEF.
«Belgian situation – a warning that Europe is, in principle, ready to seize Russian property – warns analyst. – A signal that maybe if a claim for compensation for the Crimea will give Ukraine. Now everything will depend on the reaction of the Kremlin. ”
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