Italian bank commands payment of USD480mn over argued Russian agreement
(MENAFN) An Italian bank, UniCredit, has been ordered by a Russian court to pay EUR448.2 million (USD479.44 million) following the collapse of a joint venture deal involving Russian energy giant Gazprom and Germany's Linde. The court ruling stems from UniCredit's role as a guarantor lender for a gas processing plant project in Ust Luga, near St. Petersburg, under the joint venture RusChemAlliance, which is 50% owned by Gazprom. The project was abandoned due to Western sanctions imposed after the Ukraine conflict erupted.
The St. Petersburg-based RusChemAlliance initiated legal action to seek compensation from UniCredit for allegedly not fulfilling its obligations when the deal was terminated. The St. Petersburg Arbitration Court ruled in favor of RusChemAlliance, stating, "The claim is satisfied in full."
Linde had initially agreed to the project in 2021 but withdrew in compliance with Western sanctions following the Ukraine conflict, according to a 2022 company report. Last month, the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region implemented interim measures on RusChemAlliance's claim against UniCredit, seizing property and assets worth EUR462.67 million (USD494.4 million) from UniCredit’s Russian operations. UniCredit had sought to cancel the process but was unsuccessful.
The bank clarified in May that the seizure impacted only a small portion of its assets in Russia, not its entire subsidiary. This ruling highlights the complex repercussions of geopolitical tensions on international business agreements and financial obligations.
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