Фото: "Нафтан"
A court in Kharkiv ordered more than $9 million to be recovered in favor of two entrepreneurs from Donetsk from 58 Russian and seven Belarusian enterprises. The basis for the ruling was financing of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, as a result of which the plaintiffs lost their businesses, Radio Svaboda reports.
According to the outlet, the businessmen lost two companies located in Donetsk and Makeyevka in the Donetsk region, occupied by Russia since 2014 — a legal firm and a cement and construction mixtures plant with a combined charter capital of around $30,000. These two companies owned a third corporation with a charter capital of around $10,000. Because of the Russian occupation, the entrepreneurs lost several hundred machines and pieces of equipment, as well as nearly 1,500 square meters of industrial premises. The total damage amounted to $9,167,605.69.
Initially, the entrepreneurs filed a lawsuit against Russian company Gazprom and later added another 57 Russian and seven Belarusian enterprises as co-defendants. The court invited company representatives to take part in the proceedings through a public notice — no court orders were sent directly to them, and they did not attend the hearings. The Belarusian companies will bear joint liability alongside the Russian ones. In addition, each enterprise must pay a court fee to the Ukrainian budget of more than 16,000 hryvnias — about $400.
Among the Belarusian companies recognized as accomplices in Russian aggression are both state-owned and private enterprises: Belaruskaliy, Bellesexport, Naftan, Omsk Carbon Mogilev, Real-Agent, Sodruzhestvo Trans-Agro, and Transit-Auto 2003.
Formally, the companies may appeal the ruling until April 6, 2026. At the same time, the mechanism for enforcing the decision has not yet been determined. According to the authors, the next step will likely be an appeal to the International Register of Damage in The Hague and the European Court of Human Rights.