Certain assets owned by the Russian government were frozen in France over a claim by the Swiss trading firm to secure the repayment of debts under barter oil deals struck with Russia's government in the early 1990s.
The situation "will be settled in line with international law... This was clearly a hasty and ungrounded decision," Sergei Lavrov told journalists.
Since 1993, the Swiss firm has repeatedly applied for the seizure of Russian property abroad, including Russian Central Bank accounts in France and a sailing ship and warplanes brought into the country for shows.
A document dated January 2 says the seizure applies to assets including deposit accounts of Russia's Central Bank and accounts of government-controlled news agency RIA Novosti. Under the document, the Swiss trading firm estimated the Russian government's debt to it at 49 million euros ($73 million).
The Russian government's property in France was seized pursuant to a ruling passed by the Stockholm Arbitration Court in favor of Noga in 1997.
However, lawyers representing the Russian side say that Noga has misled French judicial authorities, as it no longer has the right of claim under the arbitration ruling.
The lawyers say Noga has ceded its claims to four Swiss banks and that following a series of subsequent re-assignments, these claims have been acquired by the Russian side. The powers earlier granted by the four Swiss banks to Noga to demand compensation from Russia have been annulled.
Therefore, according to Russia's finance ministry, Noga no longer has any financial or other right to claim compensation under the arbitration ruling pursuant to which Russian assets were frozen in France.
