OREANDA-NEWS. The Kyiv Appeal Commercial Court cancelled the decision made by the Kyiv Commercial Court on the initiation of a bankruptcy case against Chornomornaftogaz PJSC.

While passing the decision to institute bankruptcy proceedings, the Kyiv Commercial Court did not pay due regard to provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Pipeline Transport”, stipulating that “for state-owned enterprises engaged in gas transportation via main pipelines and gas storage in underground storage facilities, Naftogaz National Joint Stock Company, subsidiary companies thereof and companies founded thereby, … no legal action of bankruptcy may be brought”. Cancellation of the illegal decision will enable Chornomornaftogaz to resume work and, in particular, proceed with recovering its assets that have been lost in Crimea.

In March 2014, Naftogaz lost control over the assets of Chornomornaftogaz in Crimea because of the Russian occupation of the peninsula. The PJSC National Joint Stock Company Chornomornaftogaz was re-registered in Kyiv. Chornomornaftogaz is currently working on restoring its legal documentation and is engaged in a number of litigation processes. Chornomornaftogaz’s losses incurred due to the expropriation of assets in Crimea have been reported in a claim filed by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine against Russia (the case Ukraine vs. Russia). Naftogaz has recorded losses on the assets from these discontinued operations of UAH 14.9 billion.