The Ukrainian Supreme Commercial Court of Appeal has upheld the nationalization of 1,500 kilometers of pipeline belonging to a subsidiary of Russia’s Transneft. The Russian company has lost a section of the Grozny-Armavir-Trudovaya pipeline and the Samara of westerly direction pipeline that run through the territory of Ukraine.
According to an intergovernmental agreement, the pipelines have been owned by Transneft since July 26, 1995. The Russian company operated the pipelines under the Ukrainian law and provided all the necessary customs fees.
The statement of the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office reads that during the inspection it was found that parts of the pipelines were illegally transferred to PrikarpatZapadtrans that belongs to Transneft’s subsidiary Transnefteprodukt.
The court upheld the claim and ruled to hand the pipelines over to the State Property Fund of Ukraine.
Rivne Economic Court of Appeal rejected Transneft’s application saying the decision was lawful. Representatives of Transneft said the trial took place unilaterally, and the company’s reqest to involve the Federal Agency for State Property Management of the Russian Federation was denied.
