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Ukraine prepares new lawsuits against Russia over Crimea — FM

"We are working on lawsuits planned in the future, as concerns compensations and on individual Ukrainian companies," the foreign minister said in a televised interview

Pavlo Klimkin ITAR-TASS/Maxim Nikitin

Pavlo Klimkin

© ITAR-TASS/Maxim Nikitin

KIEV, December 21. /TASS/. Ukraine is preparing new lawsuits against Russia over damage to Ukrainian companies following Crimea’s secession from Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Monday.

"We are working on lawsuits planned in the future, as concerns compensations and on individual Ukrainian companies," he said in a televised interview.

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He said some Ukrainian companies, including the Oschadbank bank and the Naftogaz national energy company, have already gone to law, while several other companies are preparing to follow suit. "The Foreign Ministry is coordinating these processes," the minister said.

He reiterated Ukraine’s stance on Crimea, saying Ukraine refused to recognize its accession to Russia, supported sanctions against Crimea and worked on lawsuits.

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals March 18, 2014.

Despite Moscow’s repeated statements that the Crimean referendum on secession from Ukraine was in line with the international law and the UN Charter and in conformity with the precedent set by Kosovo’s secession from Serbia in 2008, the West and Kiev have refused to recognize the legality of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.

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Ukraine crisis Crimea and Sevastopol

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