Ambassador Ušackas: EU has nothing to do with seizures of Russian assets abroad

“EU does not take part in any way in these disputes (regarding which and based on a claim of former shareholders of Yukos oil company, Russia’s assets in some European countries were seized). As far as I understand it, this was a court’s decision and neither the European Commission nor governments of the EU member-states had any influence on it,” the ambassador stressed.

“Countermeasures can only be taken if they are valid and have a legal basis. I hope that the Russian Governments will have respect for international law and will act accordingly,” Ušackas said, commenting on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement about potential countermeasures from Russia, such as seizures of assets of European countries in Russia’s territory.

The move to seize Russia’s assets in Belgium came as part of the procedure for enforcing a USD 50 billion judgement on the case of the now defunct Yukos oil company in July 2014, TASS reports.

The Hague court claimed Russia had breached the Energy Charter Treaty. Moscow, which signed but did not ratify the Energy Charter Treaty, has repeatedly said it categorically disagrees with the Hague tribunal’s ruling.