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🇫🇷 France /Environment & Climate

Norway seizes Russian cruise ship in Arctic at Ukraine’s request

From Le Figaro · () French

Translated from French and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Official statement Approved/passed
  • Norwegian authorities seized the Russian cruise ship Professor Molchanov in Svalbard at the request of Ukraine’s Naftogaz.
  • The seizure seeks to enforce an arbitration award ordering Russia to pay about $4.22 billion over assets taken during the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
  • A Norwegian court ordered the measure on Aug. 31, and the vessel was held at Barentsburg to secure the debt, interest and related costs.

Norway has seized a Russian cruise ship in the Arctic after Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Naftogaz sought enforcement of a $4.22 billion arbitration award against Russia.

This is a new important step toward restoring justice over Russia’s illegal seizure of Naftogaz’s assets in Crimea.

— Sergii FedorenkoNaftogaz’s interim chief executive welcomed the Norwegian seizure.

The vessel, Professor Molchanov, was seized in Svalbard and is being held at Barentsburg, a mining town. The award concerns assets Naftogaz says Russia illegally seized during its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Naftogaz interim chief executive Sergii Fedorenko welcomed the move as “a new important step toward restoring justice” over the seizure of the company’s Crimean assets. He said the group would continue searching worldwide for Russian assets until the compensation awarded to Naftogaz and other group companies was paid in full.

We will continue to search for Russian assets around the world until the full payment of the compensation awarded to Naftogaz and other Naftogaz group companies.

— Sergii FedorenkoFedorenko described the company’s plans to enforce the arbitration award.

A Norwegian court ordered the seizure on Aug. 31 to secure payment of the Russian debt, including interest and associated costs. The Svalbard police confirmed that they had acted on an order from the Nord-Troms and Senja District Court and seized the Professor Molchanov at Barentsburg.

Svalbard police received a court order from the Nord-Troms and Senja District Court to carry out the attachment of the vessel Professor Molchanov. Svalbard police today seized the vessel in Barentsburg.

— Håkon FinstadThe Svalbard police official confirmed the seizure to Aftenposten.
About this summary

Originally published by Le Figaro in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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