The Court of Arbitration in Paris on July 16 began hearing the lawsuit on the illegal seizure of infrastructure facilities of NEC Ukrenergo in the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the company said on its website on Friday.

As part of the lawsuit, Ukrenergo is seeking for compensation for Russia's violation of the 1988 Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on encouragement and mutual protection of investments, namely for the seizure of trunk networks and other facilities owned by Ukrenergo during the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the company said.

In addition, Ukrenergo's claims include compensation for damage from the illegal expropriation of Ukrenergo's investments in Crimea and violation of obligations to guarantee full and unconditional legal protection.

According to Ukrenergo board member Maksym Yurkov, who is quoted in the report, the value of assets against which the claim is filed will be determined after their assessment.

The company said that on March 27, 2020, the tribunal's composition was approved. It includes Justice Lawrence Collins, Ukrenergo's appointed arbitrator D. Brian King and Russia's appointed arbitrator Gabriel Bottini.

According to the company, today the Court of Arbitration has refused to the Russian side a petition regarding the possibility of filing a request for division of proceedings into the stage of determining the jurisdiction of the case and the stage of hearing the case, in fact, before Ukrenergo submits a detailed statement of claim.

At the same time, the company said that the procedural calendar for the remainder of the arbitration will be established after the court makes a decision on the need to divide the case into stages.