Russia has demanded that the American investment fund Noble Capital RSD, which wants to receive payments in the amount of $ 225.8 billion for obligations under the bonds of the Russian Empire of 1916, withdraw the case by January 30.
A lawsuit against The Russian Federation, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, the Central Bank and the National Welfare Fund of Russia entered the US Federal Court in the District of Columbia. As it became known, the interests of the Russian Federation are represented by the international law firm Marks & Sokolov.
"The Russian Federation has demanded that the plaintiff withdraw his claim by January 30, and if this does not happen, we will file a motion to dismiss the claim without consideration (motion to dismiss) on the basis of the US law "On Immunity of Foreign States" (Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act)," Marks & Sokolov commented to RIA Novosti.
As reported by EADaily, Noble Capital RSD calls itself the owner of bonds of the Russian Empire for $ 25 million with a coupon of 5.5%, placed through the National City Bank of New York. According to the plaintiff, Russia, as the successor of the USSR, inherited debts, which, taking into account interest, are estimated at at least $ 225 billion. The statement of claim states that "the Russian Federation, violating the doctrine of succession of power, has refused and continues to refuse to fulfill certain obligations on public debts borrowed by its predecessor, the Russian Empire."
The amount that Nord Capital requires is 17.5 trillion rubles at the current exchange rate, equal to 43% of Russia's annual budget (40.2 trillion rubles), and also exceeds the cost of Sberbank, Gazprom and Rosneft combined (6.5 trillion, 2.9 trillion and 4.2 trillion rubles, respectively). The Fund expects to repay the debt at the expense of Russian assets frozen as a result of the imposed sanctions after the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation in 2014 and the start of a special Russian military operation on Ukraine in 2022.