Ukrainian courts' verdicts on compensation for damage caused by Russia can be filed with Register of Damage as evidence – deputy head of President's Office
The verdicts of the Ukrainian courts on compensation for damage caused by Russia can be submitted by the applicant to the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine as evidence, said Deputy Head of the President's Office Iryna Mudra.
"Such decisions will be made by the Register, but the Register will not guarantee that they will influence the final decision of the compensation commission. But still, if there is a decision, this is evidence. It must be uploaded along with the claims and other evidence. This will definitely not be superfluous," she said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
At the same time, Mudra, who before her appointment as deputy head of the President's Office last week oversaw the issue of the Register of Damage as Deputy Minister of Justice, confirmed her opinion that the direct execution of Ukrainian courts' verdicts in foreign jurisdictions will be "extremely complex, long-term, and it is not a fact that it will generally have a result."
Commenting on the current state of confiscation of Russian assets in foreign jurisdictions, she recalled that Ukraine called on the countries on whose territory Russia's seized sovereign assets are located to take countermeasures against Russia for its violation of the norms and principles of international law. Countermeasures should be in the form of temporary non-compliance, in relation to the Russian Federation, with the sustainable principle of immunity of the sovereign assets of a sovereign state.
According to the deputy head of the President's Office, immobilized assets of the Russian Federation can be used to fill the International Compensation Mechanism Fund after its creation on the basis of a multilateral international agreement, the categories of damage have already been determined by the Board of the Register, they include damage caused to individuals, legal entities of all forms of ownership and the state of Ukraine.
"Until the establishment of the International Compensation Mechanism, funds can be directed to the Ukraine Recovery Fund or to a specially created fund, a World Bank trust, or to an escrow account opened in a European bank," Mudra said.
She added that the funds can also be used for international projects for the reconstruction and restoration of Ukraine, for the payment of compensation to affected individuals, for humanitarian purposes or other purposes in agreement with the Ukrainian government.
"All funds should be used until the International Compensation Fund is created. After the creation of the International Compensation Mechanism, the Fund, payment funds that have not yet been paid through the Ukraine Recovery Fund will be taken into account when awarding or paying compensation," the ex-deputy minister said.