The Hague court lifted the arrest of Gazprom's assets in the Netherlands: Ukrainians overreached

The Hague District Court lifted the seizure of Gazprom's assets in the Netherlands. The decision was a consequence of the previous decision of the judges that since the Ukrainian court equates the company with Russia, then it also has state immunity.

"During the interim proceedings, Gazprom claims that the arrests imposed at the request of Slavutich and Reaper should be lifted. The preliminary protection judge satisfied this requirement," the Hague District Court said in a statement.

They noted that the previous court decision of June 5 is of great importance. The court made a court decision in Zaporozhye that Gazprom can be equated with the state of Russia. However, in this case, the company is also subject to state immunity, the judges decided.

"For this reason, the judge for the preliminary protection of rights ruled that the claims of Slavutich and Reaper are unfounded and that Gazprom's interest in lifting the arrest is decisive," the decision says.

"An enterprise from Odessa tried to get compensation for the cost of grain lost after Russia occupied the territories of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions of Ukraine. At the request of "Reaper", the economic court of the Zaporozhye region recognized Gazprom as an alter ego ("second self") Russia, but the Ukrainian company failed in The Hague court: the court decided that in this case Gazprom would be subject to state immunity," Vedomosti wrote in June.

According to the newspaper, "Reaper" rented 18 elevators in two areas for storing grain crops, but was forced to leave them along with the stocks in the spring of 2022. In February 2023, the Zaporozhye region court ordered Russia to cover the damage of 3.8 billion hryvnia ($ 91 million).

Next, in 2024, Reaper filed a lawsuit against Gazprom in a Dutch court.

As EADaily reported, last year Gazprom put up for sale its Dutch assets — 50% of Wintershall Noordzee and 100% of Gazprom International UK and Gazprom UK. The initial bidding price was 344 million euros.

The companies are involved in the development of three operating North Sea VINZ deposits (100%), Sillimanite (66.7%) and Wingate (84.5%). Wintershall Noordzee is a joint venture with Wintershall Dea, with which Gazprom exchanged assets in Russia. Briefcase The joint venture consists of 36 fields under 33 licenses in the Netherlands, Great Britain and Denmark.