The Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Helsinki on 29 October 2024. The property is one of more than 40 Russian-owned assets seized by the National Enforcement Authority of Finland since Thursday, 24 October, reports YLE. The seizures have been carried out quietly under a court decision issued in connection with an international arbitration ruling ordering Russia to pay over five billion euros in compensation to Naftogaz, a Ukrainian state-owned oil and gas company, over damage inflicted as part of the invasion of Crimea in 2014. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)
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THE NATIONAL Enforcement Authority of Finland begun on 24 October seizing Russian assets in Finland, reveals Helsingin Sanomat.
The seizures are carried out as a preservation measure in connection with a compensation claim issued against Russia by Naftogaz, a state-owned oil and gas company in Ukraine. Russia was last year ordered to pay more than five billion euros in compensation to the company by an international arbitration tribunal in the Hague, the Netherlands.
Naftogaz issued the claim in 2016, citing damage inflicted by the Russian invasion of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
The District Court of Helsinki in August pointed to the arbitration ruling and non-payment in ordering authorities to seize over 4.2 billion euros worth of Russian assets in Finland, leaving the enforcement authority with the task of identifying and seizing assets with a corresponding value.
Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday wrote that the seizures began last week unbeknownst to the public, many key stakeholders, as well as Russia. Finland thus became the first country to commence asset seizures under a court order linked to the arbitration ruling, the newspaper wrote citing that around 40 assets with a total value of 35 million euros have since been seized in Finland.
The most valuable asset are a 10-million-euro office building on Vattuniemenkatu in Helsinki, the seven-million-euro property that it the Russian Centre of Science and Culture on Nordenskilödinkatu in Helsinki and a two-million-euro property on Häggesbölevägen in Helsinki. The assets also include plots and properties in Kirkkonummi, Saltvik, Siuntio, Turku and Åland.
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said to Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday that Russia will challenge the seizure order in order to protect its interests.
“The Russian federation will protect its interests and assets. That’s why we’ll use all legal mechanisms to protect our interests,” he commented to the daily newspaper.
The Russian Embassy in Finland announced yesterday evening it has issued a diplomatic not firmly condemning the seizures to the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, according to STT. President Alexander Stubb stated to the news agency that the asset seizures are lawful, underscoring that the enforcement authority performs its duties within the bounds of Finnish law.
YLE on Tuesday reminded in its report that a number of questions remain unanswered: have authorities seized other types of assets than plots and properties, such as financial assets, will the seizures continue and what will happen to the seized assets?
The seizures have no impact on anyone living or engaged in other kinds of activity in the seized properties.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
