Historic decision: Court in Vienna rejects Russia’s attempt to seize UDS property
27.11.2024 - 10:39
An Austrian court has recognized Ukraine as a co-owner of UDS real estate, which has been in joint ownership since the times of the USSR.
A court in Vienna has made a decision that has stopped many years of attempts by Russian representatives to “evict” UDS from buildings in the city center, the company reported.
This property, located in a fashionable district of Vienna, is estimated at tens of millions of euros.
The property was purchased in 1975 with UDS funds, and formally the USSR was its owner. After the collapse of the Union, it remained under the control of Ukraine. But in 2008, Russia changed the owner of the building from the USSR to the Russian Federation. The terrorist country justified this by saying that it had paid the debts of the former USSR and is its sole successor.
Despite the fact that previous court instances in this case were lost, in 2022, UDS intensified its legal struggle.
In the end, the court rejected the Russian Federation’s claims, recognizing Ukraine as a co-owner of the property. For the first time in history, a European court has recognized that Russia is not the sole legal successor to Soviet property. This paves the way for the return of other assets abroad that Russia is trying to appropriate.
In total, over the past two years, the UDS has protected assets worth several billion UAH.
As a reminder, the UDS previously prevented the fictitious sale of its building in Budapest.
