The indemnity of annexation

The State Ukrainian Oschadbank filed a lawsuit against Russia for more than $ 1 billion to the international arbitration tribunal. This was reported by the press service of the bank.

It is emphasized that Oschadbank begins a “new important stage” in the process of its claims to Russia as part of a bilateral investment agreement that follows from the “total destruction of its investments in the Crimea due to illegal occupation and the actual annexation of this territory”.

"On August 26, Oschadbank filed a statement of claim with the entire evidence base. The amount of claims includes both the cost of loss of assets, the cost of loss of business, and the interest that will be accrued before the tribunal of the final decision and until the actual receipt of compensation at the commercial rate determined by the tribunal, and amounts to more than $ 1 billion," the report said. The place of consideration of the lawsuit is determined by Paris.

As noted in the bank, in accordance with his offer, the tribunal decided not to “bifurcate” the process and not to single out the issues of jurisdiction into separate production. All issues regarding jurisdiction, the essence of the claims and assessment of damage will be heard at one meeting, which will significantly accelerate the consideration of the case.

The tribunal decided that if, after the Oschadbank of the statement of claim, Russia will further refuse to participate in arbitration, the statement of claim will be considered according to the accelerated temporary schedule before the final hearing. It is scheduled for the end of March 2017.

The next procedural step will be the listening of the case on the merits at the hearing.

In early July 2015, Oschadbank notified Russia of his claims . Within six months, when it was possible to arbitrally settlement, Russia did not respond to the bank’s appeal. In accordance with international law, Oschadbank can file a lawsuit and exercise its rights regardless of whether Russia takes part in it or not.

On January 19, Oschadbank filed a notice of arbitration proceedings against Russia in connection with the loss of property and investments in the Crimea. "This is the next step in the decision of the legal claims of Oschadbank to Russia. The bank acts as an investor and as a legal entity of private law with the aim of economic protection and restoration of its investment lost in Crimea," the report said.