Translated material
Bony hand "Legs"
Bank of Russia accounts frozen in France
The Swiss company Noga, which has been trying to collect debt from Russia since 1993, is again on the warpath. Yesterday it became known that, following a lawsuit by the Swiss, in Paris on January 2, funds of Russian government institutions and companies held in French banks, including deposits of the Bank of Russia, were seized. This is not the first time Russian assets have been seized abroad due to a legal battle with Noga. True, after the American businessman of Russian origin , Alexander Kogan, bought Russia's debts to a Swiss company in March 2006, it seemed that the long-term history of complex and confusing relations between the parties was finally over. The Ministry of Finance claims that all debts of the Russian government to the Swiss company were bought by Russia, so there is no reason to seize assets. In the near future, the Ministry of Finance intends to protest the actions of the bailiffs, and the Russian Foreign Ministry yesterday already sent a note to the French authorities.As stated in the official release of the RIA Novosti agency, which suffered, among others, from the actions of Noga, in total, the Swiss company managed to freeze about 49 million euros belonging to Russian companies, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Development, Roscosmos, Rosoboronexport, Rosatom ", Vnesheconombank. The news agency's funds were in the accounts of VTB-Europe Bank. According to VTB-Europe documents, bailiffs blocked the amount of 79 thousand euros in the RIA Novosti account. A press release from the Ministry of Finance states that “this affected the funds of the Russian news agency RIA Novosti and a number of deposits placed by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The seizure was imposed without prior notification to the Russian government or the owners of the blocked accounts. None of these accounts contain funds belonging to the government.” The arrest order was issued on the basis of the decision of the Stockholm International Court on the Noga claim dated February 1, 1997.
Claims against Russia by the notorious Swiss company, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, have not been heard since March 2006. Then, an American businessman of Russian origin, Alexander Kogan, bought out debt obligations of the Russian government worth about $60 million from three banks. Noga’s claims to Russia were transferred to BNP Paribas, Credit Lyonnais and Banque cantonale de Geneve during the bankruptcy procedure of the Swiss company. Mr. Kogan stated that he acted in the interests of the Russian side. Yesterday, when it became known about the arrest of the accounts, he once again confirmed that Noga has no reason to demand the return of the debt from Russia, while admitting that it does not yet have legal confirmation that the Russian government no longer owes the Swiss company anything.
But the Ministry of Finance officially announced yesterday that the rights of claim under the decisions of the Stockholm Arbitration Court no longer belong to Noga. “At one time, Noga ceded its rights to claim under these court decisions in favor of a number of banks,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. -- As a result of a series of subsequent assignments, the Russian side acquired the right to claim under these court decisions. The authority previously issued to Noga by these banks to demand compensation from Russia was revoked.”
Thus, the Noga company no longer has a financial or other interest in demanding compensation for the decisions of the Stockholm Arbitration Court, on the basis of which it took recent actions to block Russian assets in Paris.”
The report also states that Noga's "sole goal is to force the Russian government to re-enter negotiations to resolve its financial claims."
According to lawyers representing the interests of the Russian government, the seizure imposed on the Bank of Russia accounts is a direct violation of French banking legislation. Therefore, the Russian side intends to appeal the court order to seize the accounts and demand from the Swiss company compensation for damage caused as a result of the illegal seizure of Russian assets. The Russian Foreign Ministry has already sent a note to the French authorities on this issue through diplomatic channels.
Employees of the Prosecutor General's Office also got involved in resolving the conflict. As Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika said, “I gave instructions to look into this situation, although I myself learned about it from media reports.”
Legal proceedings between Noga and the Russian government began in the early 1990s. In 1991-1992, Russia entered into several contracts with the company worth about $1.4 billion, according to which Noga agreed to supply food and fertilizers in exchange for petroleum products.
Since then, both sides have been challenging the other party's compliance with the terms of the agreement. Under the terms of the agreements, Russia was responsible for the fulfillment of contracts with its property. In 1993, the Russian government terminated the agreement. According to Russian lawyers, these controversial contracts were drawn up incorrectly and solely in the interests of the owner of Noga, businessman Nessim Gaon. According to the 1991 contract, in the event of a conflict situation, Moscow would waive state immunity. On this basis, Noga was able to initiate a case in an international tribunal in Stockholm and bill Russia for $1.5 billion. In 1997, a Swedish court decided the case in favor of Noga on two claims totaling $27 million. Since then, the company has been arrested several times Russian property abroad - in 2000, Noga achieved in France the arrest of the accounts of the Bank of Russia and the Russian sailing ship "Sedov" , and in 2001 it tried to arrest Russian aircraft at the Le Bourget air show, but then the accounts were unblocked and the seizure of property was declared illegal . In 2005, at the request of Noga, a collection of paintings from the Pushkin Museum was seized in Switzerland , but the arrest was lifted after the intervention of the Swiss Federal Council (government), and the paintings returned to Moscow.
According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of MDM Bank Oleg Vyugin, who served as Deputy Minister of Finance in the late 1990s, the government will achieve the lifting of the seizure of Russian accounts in France. “The arrest will certainly be lifted. It is necessary for a law firm that works for the government in such cases to go to court in a qualified manner,” RIA Novosti quotes Mr. Vyugin as saying. The Central Bank of Russia does not comment on these events.