Norway seizes Russian vessel to enforce $4.22B Ukrainian arbitration claim

OSLO, Norway -- Norwegian authorities seized a Russian vessel in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard on Wednesday at the request of Ukraine’s Naftogaz as part of a global effort to enforce a $4.22 billion arbitration award.

Naftogaz is trying to recover the multibillion-dollar arbitration award stemming from Russia’s 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea and its seizure of Ukrainian energy assets, including gas fields and pipelines.

In 2023, an arbitration tribunal in The Hague ordered Russia to pay the $4.22 billion to the Ukrainian state-owned energy company for unlawfully seizing its assets in Crimea.

After Russia's refusal to pay the award, Naftogaz has been petitioning national courts seeking court orders to seize Russian commercial assets.

“This is another important step towards restoring justice for Russia’s unlawful seizure of Naftogaz assets in Crimea. Russia cannot evade responsibility simply by refusing to comply with an international arbitral award. We will continue to pursue Russian assets around the world,” said Naftogaz CEO Sergii Fedorenko.

When asked on Thursday about Norway’s action, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the seizure of civilian vessels and strikes on merchant shipping were “acts of state terrorism.”

He also condemned recent warnings by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to foreign airlines that flying in Russia would no longer be safe because of Ukrainian long-range drone attacks.

Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, Putin linked the vessel seizure and Zelenskyy’s warning, saying such incidents “complicated” the prospects for future peace talks. He added that Ukraine’s allies were “complicit in international terrorism” by remaining silent on the issues.

Russia’s ambassador to Norway, Nikolai Korchunov, told Russian state news agency Tass that the seizure of the vessel was a “politically motivated violation of international law.”

He said that the court decision to seize the vessel would be appealed and that the embassy was in contact with the ship’s crew and passengers, Tass reported.

Norway’s seizure of the Russian vessel, the Professor Molchanov, comes after a Nord-Troms district court order issued August 31, Svalbard Governor Lars Fause said in a statement.

Following the seizure, the vessel is not allowed to leave its current location in Barentsburg on Svalbard, the governor said.

The Russian vessel is used for commercial expedition cruises, including to Svalbard.