KYIV. Nov 20 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) is preparing a demand for the Russian government on compensating for the damage Ukraine has sustained due to "the temporary occupation of the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," USPA said in a statement on its website.
"The value of the state-owned property that was listed as belonging to USPA branches and was illegally expropriated by the self-proclaimed Crimean authorities amounts to over 1.24 billion hryvni," USPA said.
USPA earlier submitted information on its assets in Crimea to the Ukrainian Justice Ministry, which had filed a general lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights.
"This time around, we will invoke provisions of the agreement on the encouragement and mutual protection of investments. The first step is sending claims on compensation for damages directly to the Russian government. If we don't receive an answer within half a year, the case will go to an international arbitration body for consideration," USPA CEO Ravis Veckagans said.
USPA plans to forward a letter notifying the Russian government of its demand on settling the dispute on compensating for investment losses due to the expropriation of USPA's assets in Crimea in line with the 1998 agreement between the Ukrainian and Russian governments on the encouragement and mutual protection of investments before the end of 2019.
The law firm Covington & Burling, which has experience in protecting businesses' interests in international public law arbitration institutions, will represent USPA's interests in the dispute with Russia.