Russia’s Foreign Ministry summons Norwegian diplomat over seizures

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned Norway’s chargé d’affaires in Moscow on 3 November to protest the continuing seizure of Russian state property and the research vessel Professor Molchanov at Ukraine’s request.

The ministry condemned Norwegian court rulings that kept the ship impounded at Barentsburg on the Svalbard archipelago and seized 5 Russian state properties in Norway. The summons followed the vessel’s seizure in September and the dismissal of an appeal in October.

The arbitration award and appeal

Norwegian authorities seized the ship on 2 September to enforce a $4.2 billion arbitration award in favor of Naftogaz, a Ukrainian state energy company. In 2023, a Hague-based arbitration court ordered Russia to compensate the company for assets expropriated during the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

On 28 October, a Norwegian court dismissed an appeal by state-owned Arktikugol, which manages Russian operations on Svalbard. The court ruled that the company lacked legal standing to challenge the seizure and ordered it to pay Naftogaz $300,000 in legal fees, The Moscow Times said.

Ship’s role and Russia’s next step

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the Professor Molchanov had been the main means of transporting personnel and vital supplies to Barentsburg, a Russian coal-mining settlement, after Western sanctions cut off direct air travel with Russia. It warned that prolonged mooring of the ship during winter risked operational failure and serious environmental consequences.

The ministry said it and other relevant Russian agencies would seek to have the seizure of Russian property lifted.