An arbitration court in St. Petersburg ruled to freeze the assets of Linde Russia U.K. Limited, a subsidiary of German-based Linde chemical company, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Aug. 14, citing Russian court documents.
The decision came after Ruskhimalyans, a sanctioned subsidiary of Russia's state-owned Gazprom, filed a lawsuit against Linde in March, demanding to recover more than 746 million euros ($822 million) and 30.71 billion rubles ($347 million) in debt.
In its lawsuit, the Russian company claimed that it was impossible to enforce the upcoming court order at the expense of Linde Group's assets in so-called "unfriendly" countries due to sanctions, while Linde is trying to withdraw its assets from Russia.
The court filings showed that in addition to the assets, the court ruled to seize the company's cash and shares.
Ruskhimalyans filed a number of lawsuits in the Russian courts after Moscow's all-out war against Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions stalled work on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga in Leningrad Oblast.
Ruskhimalyans also signed a contract with Linde in the summer of 2021 for the design and construction of a LNG plant in Ust-Luga.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Linde said that the company had suspended its work in Russia, citing EU sanctions imposed against the Russian company.
The EU recently slapped historic sanctions against the Russian gas industry in June, applying a ban on LNG transshipment for the first time.
Martin Fornusek
