Ukrainian court finally returns oil product pipeline owned by pro-Russian oligarch to state ownership

The Supreme Court of Ukraine has finally recognised the state's ownership of the Ukrainian part of the Samara-Western Direction oil product pipeline, known as the Medvedchuk’s Pipeline (Viktor Medvedchuk is a former Ukrainian MP and pro-Russian oligarch who has Putin as a godfather of his daughter – ed.).

Source: Vitalii Koval, the head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, on Telegram

Details: The pipeline was built during the Soviet era and was supposed to become state property after Ukraine declared its independence.

However, this did not happen, and for many years, Russian company Transnefteprodukt used it.

The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) has been trying to return this asset to state ownership since 2011. In 2017, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the circumstances of the transfer of ownership of the pipeline.

Following the investigation, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine seized the asset, and in 2021, it was transferred to the management of Ukrtransnafta.

In addition, in 2021, the SPFU filed a lawsuit with the Commercial Court of Zhytomyr Oblast, in which it requested that the state recognise the ownership of the pipeline. "In June 2023, the court sided with the Fund. And yesterday, the Supreme Court did not satisfy the cassation appeal. Thus, Ukraine has defended its right to this property," Koval added.

The state's ownership of the pipeline is currently being registered.

Reminder: The litigation over the return of Medvedchuk's pipeline to state ownership, which had been ongoing since 2011, ended with a verdict, according to which the court satisfied the main, but not all, claims of the State Property Fund as a plaintiff.

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