On August 14, 2024, a court in St. Petersburg ordered the freezing of assets belonging to Linde Russia U.K. Limited, a subsidiary of the German chemical company Linde AG. This decision was reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and follows a legal dispute involving the Russian firm Ruskhimalyans.
The court’s ruling came after Ruskhimalyans, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned Gazprom that is under sanctions, filed a lawsuit against Linde in March. The lawsuit seeks to recover a substantial amount of debt, totaling over 746 million euros ($822 million) and 30.71 billion rubles ($347 million).
Ruskhimalyans argued that due to sanctions and Linde’s efforts to withdraw its assets from Russia, it would be challenging to enforce any potential court order against Linde’s assets in countries deemed “unfriendly” to Russia. The court’s decision not only freezes Linde Russia U.K.’s assets but also includes a seizure of the company’s cash and shares.
This legal action follows a series of lawsuits filed by Ruskhimalyans in response to disruptions caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions. These sanctions have affected the progress of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant project at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga in Leningrad Oblast, which Ruskhimalyans had contracted Linde to design and build in the summer of 2021.
In response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Linde had announced a suspension of its operations in Russia, citing European Union sanctions imposed on the Russian company. In June, the EU imposed unprecedented sanctions on the Russian gas industry, including a ban on LNG transshipment for the first time.
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