Norway seizes Russian ship to force Ukraine payment
Norway seized a Russian ship in the Arctic Sea in an effort to enforce a $4.22 billion compensation payment to Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz over Moscow’s seizure of its assets when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 .
The Russian vessel named “Professor Molchanov” was seized off the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, according to Covington, the U.S. law firm representing Naftogaz.
The Russian state agency TASS quoted a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson who described what went down as “piracy”.
The Norwegian Svalbard governor’s office said they will “take care of the crew and passengers on board the vessel in collaboration with Trust Arktikugol” – Arktikugol (“Arctic Coal”) is the Russian company that manages the country’s assets on the archipelago.
Editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) radio, Andrei Gorbunov, who was onboard the vessel at the time of seizure made a statement explaining the situation;
“This seizure has had no impact on the expedition participants or the ship’s crew. No one has been arrested. We are all going about our business as usual,” Gorbunov wrote on KP’s website.
“For the time being, the Professor Molchanov is simply forbidden from leaving the port of Barentsburg. It is completely unclear how long this ban will last.” he said.
The seizure is a major win for Naftogaz as it has been attempting to get compensation from Russia since 2016 – “We will continue to pursue Russian assets around the world until the compensation awarded to Naftogaz and other Naftogaz Group companies is paid,” the Ukrainian company said.
