Certain assets of Russian organizations, including accounts held by Russia's Central Bank and news agency RIA Novosti were frozen in France earlier this month over a 49 million euro ($73 million) claim by the Swiss trading firm to secure the repayment of debts under barter oil deals struck with Russia's government in the early 1990s.
RIA Novosti, which is an independent commercial organization, said it will take legal action against Noga to free their assets and will also be filing a lawsuit for damages.
Since 1993, the Swiss firm has repeatedly applied for the seizure of Russian property abroad, including Russian Central Bank accounts in France and a sailing vessel and military aircraft that took part in exhibitions and shows, to secure the repayment of debts under barter oil deals struck with Russia's government in the early 1990s.
Alexander Kogan, a U.S. businessman of Russian origin, told a press conference on January 22 that he repurchased Russia's debt from Noga's four creditor banks in 2006 and re-assigned it to Russia.
According to Kogan, Noga went bankrupt and ceded Russia's debt, estimated by the Stockholm arbitration tribunal at around $70 million, to four Swiss banks back in 1993.
However, lawyers representing the Russian side say that Noga has misled the French judicial authorities, as it no longer has the right of claim under the arbitration ruling.
The lawyers say Noga has ceded its claims to four Swiss banks and that following a series of subsequent re-assignments these claims have been acquired by the Russian side. The powers earlier granted by the four Swiss banks to Noga to demand compensation from Russia have been annulled.
Therefore, according to Russia's Finance Ministry, Noga no longer has any financial or other right to claim compensation under the arbitration ruling pursuant to which Russian assets were frozen in France.
A lawyer for the Swiss firm Noga, Antoine Korkmaz, said on January 17 that a 5% stake held by Development Bank (Vneshekonombank), a Russian state-run corporation, in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company was among Russian assets frozen in France.
