A Norwegian court has thrown out an attempt by Russian state-owned mining company Trust Arktikugol to lift the arrest of the Russian ship Professor Molchanov on Svalbard, NRK reports.
The vessel has been held at the Russian settlement of Barentsburg since September, after the Nord-Troms and Senja District Court granted a request from Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz. Naftogaz is trying to enforce a 2023 arbitration award in The Hague ordering Russia to pay about $5bn for assets seized after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The court said Trust Arktikugol, which operates in Barentsburg and Pyramiden and used the ship to carry supplies, had no standing to bring the case because Russia is the party being pursued. It ordered the company to pay 2.9 million kroner in costs. Russia has said it will appeal the original arrest decision.
Source: NRK
