Letters | Germany’s seizure of Rosneft assets sets a bad precedent in Ukraine war

Readers worry other European countries will also start seizing Russian assets, criticise Nato’s ‘Goldilocks’ approach to supporting Ukraine, and explain why the conflict is nothing like the 1974 Cyprus war

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Surplus gas burns at the PCK Petroleum Refinery in Brandenburg, Schwedt, Germany on May 2. Last year, Rosneft took over a large part of the refinery which processes 12 million tonnes of crude oil annually, making it one of the largest processing sites in Germany. Photo: dpa

Published: 2:30pm, 21 Sep 2022

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Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, countries in Europe have struggled with Russia and its critical supply of natural gas. Control over this economic lifeline has allowed Russia to stand firm despite the economic sanctions applied by western Europe.

At the end of August, Russian energy giant Gazprom, citing maintenance, suddenly shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which supplies natural gas to Germany and many other European countries. Days later, Gazprom declined to reopen the pipeline as scheduled, citing a leakage.

Since then, it has not said when the pipeline can resume operation. Germany has slammed this as “part of Russia’s psychological war”.

Weeks later, Germany seized Russian oil firm Rosneft’s German operations, which include stakes in three German refineries, to secure its energy supply and cut its dependence on Russia. According to Al Jazeera, Germany can run the refining operations itself using supplies from countries other than Russia to counter its energy crisis.

According to UNCTAD, such seizure, called expropriation, is only lawful when these conditions are met: the property is taken for public purpose, on a non-discriminatory basis, in accordance with due process of law, and accompanied by compensation.