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Moscow Condemns French Seizure of Russian Assets
Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin on Thursday condemned the French seizure of the Russian embassy's property in Paris and the Russian sailing vessel Sedov in Brest as contradicting international law.
Kudrin made the statement at a government meeting "in connection with the continuing practice of illegally seizing" Russian assets and the property of a number of Russian organizations on the basis of lawsuits filed by the Swiss Noga company, the Interfax news agency reported.
Swiss businessman Nessim Gaon, who heads the Noga company, has sued the Russian government for a 63 million U.S. dollar debt he says is owed him by Moscow.
Kudrin said the seizure of the Russian embassy's property in Paris, which was carried out on the basis of the Noga company, obviously contradicts international law, in particular, the 1961 Vienna Convention, which the Russian side has communicated to the French authorities on an official level.
The perceived debt stemmed from a series of food-for-oil deals that Noga struck with the Russian government in the early 1990s.
Gaon's lawyers say they are seeking to recover a total of 800 million dollars in interest and damages, but for now are demanding the immediate payment of the 63- million-dollar debt.
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