“At least a third”: Ukraine asked Russia to return foreign property of the USSR

The Ukrainian Ambassador to London, Vadim Prystaiko, believes that Moscow should return to Kiev a significant part of the foreign property of the USSR, which was taken after the collapse of the Union, according to the Ukrainian edition of Liga.net. HE denialUkraine ratified an agreement on the transfer of debts of the USSR to Russia by acquiring foreign property.

“Ukraine is the only republic that initially accepted but did not ratify the treaty. Our argument was: we are not against, if this is a fair deal, show what the Soviet Union owes and show the assets in the world. Moscow has not made this information public,” he said.

He noted that Kiev has demanded the return of “at least a third of those abroad”, including some objects in the UK “illegally registered with the Russian Federation,” according to Ukraine.

British The Times in July WroteThere are 18 Russian properties in the country, including the 19th-century Seacox Heath castle. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss later said that the possibility of transferring this property to Ukraine was being considered.

“As if everyone was in debt”

State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin reacted to Prystaiko’s statement. He saw Ukraine’s demands as the bankruptcy of the Kyiv regime. Volodin believes that Kiev should assume a third of the USSR’s debts before making such claims.

similar opinion stays connected Senator Alexei Pushkov. He said that the Ukrainian authorities had made a strange and unreasonable request to Russia.

“Kiev may be offered to return to Russia a third of the 104 billion dollars we owe the USSR. “Ukraine is used to demanding as if everyone is a debtor,” he said.

On July 10, in response to Liz Truss’ statements about the possible confiscation of Russian property, the Russian Embassy in London statedUkraine’s claims have no legal basis. In addition, the embassy acts from the fact that the United Kingdom will continue to fulfill its obligations to a person who is a party to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and will not allow the transfer of Russian goods to third parties.

“As the only successor country to the USSR, Russia took over the rights to Soviet property abroad and, unlike Ukraine, paid off all Soviet debts. Ukraine’s claims have no basis in international law. In addition, the buildings of diplomatic missions and the homes of embassy employees are protected by the principle of diplomatic immunity.

Soviet debt legacy

Concluded on December 4, 1991 treaty On succession in relation to foreign state debt and assets of the USSR. The participating states assumed obligations for the proportional repayment of Soviet debts and the division of foreign property of the USSR.

It was defined as the assets of the USSR, real and movable state property outside the territory of the USSR, gold and foreign currency funds and reserves of the USSR, investments abroad, any financial liability of another state to the USSR, international organization or any other foreigner . debtor.

Shares of the debt are distributed as follows: RSFSR – 61.34%; Ukraine – 16.37%; Belarus – 4.13%; Uzbekistan – 3.27%; Kazakh SSR – 3.86%; Georgia – 1.62%; Azerbaijan – 1.64%; Lithuania – 1.41%; Moldova – 1.29%; Latvia – 1.14%; Kyrgyzstan – 0.95%; Tajikistan – 0.82%; Armenia – 0.86%; Turkmenistan – 0.70%; Estonia – 0.62%. The Baltic states, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan did not sign the agreement, which significantly complicates the solution of this problem.

After the collapse of the USSR on December 26, 1991, all former union property automatically became Russian property, therefore it was necessary to sign another agreement (dated December 30, 1991, signed in Minsk), confirming the rights of other republics. a share in the property of the former USSR abroad and to pay off foreign debt.

In 1992-1994, all foreign debt of the former USSR to Russia was legally re-registered. The Russian Federation signed bilateral agreements with all former republics of the USSR, with the exception of the Baltic states and Georgia, determining that these states accept the obligations of the USSR in exchange for foreign debts. The renunciation of the share of foreign assets of the USSR due to them (the so-called agreements on “zero options”).

On August 8, 2017, Russia paid Bosnia and Herzegovina $125.2 million to pay off the Soviet Union’s foreign debt. The debt arose because Russia also recognized responsibility for the USSR’s debts to Yugoslavia, which supplied the Union with food.