MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov has initiated arbitration proceedings against Russia, demanding compensation for lost assets in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, the press service of the SCM investment group reported on Tuesday. SCM is fully owned by Akhmetov.

"Akhmetov, as an investor, is demanding compensation from Russia for all losses incurred as a result of interference with his business or expropriation of assets and investments <…>," the company said on its website. It is not specified where exactly the businessman intends to apply for arbitration.

It is alleged that these assets include dozens of enterprises in the mining, metallurgical, and energy sectors, as well as in real estate, in particular the Yenakievsky metallurgical plant, Rovenkianthracit and Sverdlovanthracit mining companies as well as the Kirsha training base and the Donbass Arena, "which opened in 2009, at a cost to build of around $400 mln."

"I am filing a claim for full compensation <…> for all the losses we have suffered since 2014," the businessman said as quoted by the press service.

According to Forbes Ukraine, Rinat Akhmetov's fortune decreased from $13.7 billion to $4.4 billion as of the end of 2022, but he still remained the richest person in Ukraine. In 2018, the DTEK group of companies, which is the energy division of Akhmetov's SCM holding, filed a lawsuit with the Hague International Arbitration Court in connection with the loss of Krymenergo.

In 2022, Akhmetov's Ukrainian holding Metinvest filed lawsuits against Russia with the European Court of Human Rights for "damage caused to the group's property in Mariupol."

SCM is the largest investment group in Ukraine, operating worldwide. The company invests in the mining and metallurgical industry, energy, mining, banking and financial sectors and other areas.