MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian museum's $1-billion artwork collection that was arrested in Switzerland at the request of Swiss trading company Noga is expected to leave Switzerland for Russia Thursday, a Russian diplomat said.
Dmitry Mezhaurov, Russia's consul-general to Geneva, said three trucks with paintings had already arrived in Geneva from Basel, and the fourth truck would be loaded in Geneva by 8 a.m. GMT.
Customs authorities in Basel and Geneva arrested four trucks Wednesday carrying 55 paintings by famous artists, including Monet, Renoir, Sisley and Van Gogh, from Moscow's Pushkin Fine Arts Museum as they were returning the paintings to Russia after an exhibition in Martigny, in the southern Swiss canton of Valais.
Later in the day the Swiss government held a special session to discuss the arrest and gave its permission for the arrested paintings to be returned to Russia.
Noga had been suing the Russian government for damages in connection with the early termination of 1990-92 trade agreements on the supply of food and fertilizers in exchange for oil derivatives.
In February 1997, the Stockholm International Arbitration Court ruled that Russia should pay Noga $23 million in damages, on terms providing for rescheduling.
All creditors of the former Soviet Union have accepted the debt rescheduling terms, except for Noga, which demanded that the money be repaid immediately in one lump sum. But Russian Finance Ministry officials have said the international principle of equality does not allow for exceptions for any of the creditors.
In 2000, Noga prompted French authorities to freeze the accounts of Russia's Central Bank and arrest a Russian sail ship. In 2001, it attempted to impound Russian military planes at the Le Bourget air show outside Paris.
