MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. The Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region satisfied the claim of RusChemAlliance to recover about 273.1 million euros from Bayerische Landesbank, as follows from the arbitration files.
"The claim is satisfied in full," the court decision says.
RusChemAlliance filed a claim against Bayerische Landesbank for 270.5 million euros and 2.64 million euros of interest for delays in the bank guarantee under the contract with Linde.
On June 7, the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region took interim measures on the claim of RusChemAlliance against Bayerische Landesbank. A seizure of up to 273.2 million euros was imposed on funds in all bank accounts opened in the name of Bayerische Landesbank, on securities and real estate of the bank, as well as on the right of claim under the loan agreement dated May 28, 2018 to PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim and all other rights of claim of the German bank against any other persons.
Earlier, RusChemAlliance managed to obtain Russian court decisions to recover more than 238 million euros from Deutsche Bank, 94.92 million euros from Commerzbank, 463 million euros from Unicredit Bank AG and 51.83 million euros from Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg.
On RusChemAlliance-Linde dispute
In May and June 2022, Linde notified RusChemAlliance about the suspension of work under the contract (it acted as an EPC contractor and supplied part of the equipment as part of the implementation of the complex in Ust-Luga) due to sanctions imposed by the EU.
The Russian company did not agree with this position, saying that the sanctions do not cover work under the contract. In particular, EU sanctions only prohibit the supply of equipment for liquefying natural gas, but not equipment for gas processing and the construction of a gas processing plant.
Since work on Linde’s part did not resume, RusChemAlliance terminated the contract with the German company and sent it a claim regarding the existence of a dispute. At the same time, a number of banks were also unable to fulfill their obligations to RusChemAlliance and pay bank guarantees due to sanctions. After this, RusChemAlliance filed claims for recovery against Unicredit Bank AG, Bayerische Landesbank, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg.
Later, the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region fully satisfied the claim of RusChemAlliance against Linde and its structures for a total amount of about 113 billion rubles ($1.26 bln). The court also turned Linde's shares in its subsidiaries in favor of RusChemAlliance. The dispute concerned the collection of debt from Linde under a contract for the design, procurement and construction of a gas processing plant in Ust-Luga. The court also partially satisfied the claim of RusChemAlliance to prohibit Linde from initiating and continuing legal proceedings abroad.
In March, RusChemAlliance also filed a new claim against the German Linde for 105.5 billion rubles ($1.2 bln). A court hearing on it is scheduled for August 5.