Russia says it will not accept an international arbitration ruling obliging Moscow to pay Ukraine's biggest state-run bank $1.3 billion in compensation for loss of business and assets in Crimea following Moscow's annexation of the peninsula in 2014.
The Russian Justice Ministry said in a statement that the arbitration court's November 26 decision was invalid because "the arbitration panel does not have jurisdiction to consider the lawsuit of Ukraine's Oshchadbank against the Russian Federation."
"The Justice Ministry of Russia will take all necessary measures to ensure the representation and protection of the Russian Federation's interests over this arbitration ruling," the ministry said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on November 27 declined to comment on the matter, saying he did not have any information about it.
Oshchadbank said on November 26 that the court ruled in the bank's favor, and the bank will now take "all possible measures" to get the money back from Russia.
Law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which represented Oshchadbank in the case, said the decision to award the sum had been made unanimously by three members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
The announcements came amid new tensions between Moscow and Kyiv over Ukrainian Navy ships seized by Russia near annexed Crimea.
Russia and Ukraine have been embroiled in a military conflict for several years. Entities from both countries are caught up in a series of lengthy court cases in several countries.
Oshchadbank official Andriy Pyshnyy encouraged other Ukrainian companies to seek international arbitration "to restore justice" over property seized in Crimea.
