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Noga Lifts Off
Noga lawyer Antoine Korkmaz announced yesterday that the package of stock in the EADS aerospace corporation controlled by Vneshekonombank has been blocked by an enforcement order. Based on estimates that VEB owned 5 percent of the corporation, that package is worth €733 million ($1.084 billion) and was supposed to be transferred to the United Aviation Construction Corp. in May. After maintaining a lengthy silence, Korkmaz told Agence France Presse that 15 assets owned by various Russian state structures have been frozen since January 2. Besides Russian assets in VTB Paris SA and Calyon Banks (Central Bank assets were frozen in the latter), the assets of an unknown Russian client were frozen in Natexis Bank.
Korkmaz explained the basis of Noga's actions to Kommersant. “In France,” he explained, “if it is a matter of implementing the decision of a foreign court, the FDrench court must make a decision that the decision of the foreign court is valid on the territory of France and supervise its implementation. The Stockholm court made three decisions on the right of Noga to act in relation to the Russian Federation. In relation to one of those, an appeals court in France confirmed on February 23, 2006, that it is valid on the territory of France. It has to be said that, after that decision of the French appeals court, we did not take any action and waited for Russia to pay. But we couldn't wait any longer. Moreover, the Russian federation appealed the decision of the appeals court in the French Supreme Court. On November 14, 2007, the Supreme Court of France decided in favor of Noga. After that decision, we decided to wait until the end of the year, in hopes that Russia would pay now, but that did not happen. That is the documental basis that we are operating on.”
The Stockholm Court ruled that Russia should pay Noga $800 million. If Noga is able to show that Vneshekonombank is a representative of the Russian Federation that is subject to suit (it changed its legal status in the autumn of 2007 and became the Development Bank state corporation), the EADS stock package will not be unfrozen. Rather, it will be sold. The November 14 decision had been unknown, and the Russian Finance Ministry took its actions with the debt after it was made.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 18, 2008
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