A Dutch court has frozen the assets of South Stream Transport, the operator of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline, as part of legal efforts by Ukrainian companies to recover losses linked to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported on Monday.

The move follows a claim by DTEK Krymenergo, an energy company owned by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, which has pursued compensation through multiple international courts after Russian authorities seized its assets in Crimea.

In November 2023, an arbitration tribunal in The Hague ordered Russia to pay DTEK $208 million, in addition to interest and legal fees. Moscow has appealed the ruling, and the case is currently pending before a Dutch appellate court.

According to the report, the Amsterdam District Court ordered the seizure of South Stream Transport’s assets in July as part of DTEK’s efforts to enforce the arbitration award. The court did not disclose the total value of the frozen assets.

DTEK argued that South Stream Transport’s business interests are closely tied to Gazprom, which holds a controlling stake in the pipeline operator. Based on this connection, DTEK sought legal permission to target the company’s assets to secure compensation.

South Stream Transport appealed the seizure order in August, arguing that it operates independently of the Russian state and should not be treated as a state-linked entity, according to Vedomosti.

South Stream Transport was initially established to construct the South Stream gas pipeline beneath the Black Sea, a project that was abandoned following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. The company later shifted focus to building the TurkStream pipeline, which was completed in 2020.

Neither DTEK, South Stream Transport, nor Gazprom responded to requests for comment from Vedomosti at the time of publication. (ILKHA)