KIEV, November 5. /TASS/. Ukraine has slim chances to obtain the right to Crimean oil and gas fields through legal proceedings against Russia, energy expert Valentine Zemlyansky told TASS on Thursday.

"This is a costly procedure, although stakes are fairly high. Furthermore, there is no precedent Ukraine needs," Zemlyansky said.

Legal proceedings can last for long, the expert said. "Ukraine decided to speak about legal proceedings in less than two years. However, this is a long story: it is possible to seek that but arguments are not fully clear," the expert said. Chances in this case will be "fifty-fifty because each side will start presenting its arguments and only time will show the result," he added.

Chief executive of Ukraine’s oil and gas company Naftogaz Andrey Kobolev announced earlier an intention to engage a US legal firm for presentation of claims on Crimean assets to an international arbitration. "We have a proposal we want to present to the cabinet of ministers. This is the US company specializing in arbitration disputes," Kobolev said.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said earlier Ukraine would seek return of control over oil and gas fields in the Black Sea region through legal proceedings.