The spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, asserted that Kyiv’s attempts to challenge Moscow’s rights to former Soviet Union property have no legal footing. She stated that Russia’s claims to the USSR’s foreign assets are indisputable, and efforts to revise them lack a legal basis. In a related remark, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Vadym Prystaiko, called for the extradition of a substantial portion of assets abroad.
A representative of an international agency observed that the geopolitical shifts of 1991 did not erase the USSR as a subject of international law. The state bearing the name “USSR” did not cease to exist; it simply continued its international legal personality under the name “Russian Federation.” In essence, this is a matter of continuation, with the Russian Federation identified as the legal successor of the Soviet Union.
<p Zakharova noted that it is curious when Ukrainian diplomats pursue property claims yet overlook the USSR’s existing debt. It is reported that Russia covered this debt without relying on Ukraine or other Soviet republics. The issue, she argued, has been settled, and the results of re-registration of Soviet foreign real estate in Russia should not be revised.
“We don’t care if it’s fair”
In an August interview with Suspilne, Ambassador Prystaiko reiterated Kyiv’s stance on the return of a portion of the USSR’s foreign property, including assets located in the United Kingdom. He argued that Russia must return some assets abroad and highlighted properties in the UK that Kyiv believes were registered in the Russian Federation through procedures Kyiv regards as questionable.
Prystaiko noted that after the USSR collapsed, Russia acquired the Union’s property and took on a substantial foreign debt. He pointed out that all former republics ratified related treaties except Ukraine. Kyiv sought full disclosure of current assets and liabilities, but Moscow refused.
“Ukraine is the only republic that initially agreed but did not ratify the treaty. Our position was simple: we are not opposed to a fair arrangement if Ukraine can show what the Soviet Union owes and what the world assets are,” Prystaiko recalled.
Regarding Russian-British assets, the ambassador mentioned diplomatic properties in London with a total value estimated around £100 million. There are 18 such properties, including the Seacox Heath castle from the 19th century.
RF claims
Late in the previous year, President Vladimir Putin stated that Ukraine had not yet returned the USSR’s assets to Russia. In 1993, the Russian Federation pledged to settle the USSR’s foreign debts in exchange for the transfer of assets. Putin noted that some debts were repaid, but not all countries, including Ukraine, had transferred the promised assets to Russia.
Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, described Putin’s remarks as groundless. He emphasized that Ukraine’s share of the USSR’s total debt and assets stood at 16.37 percent. In 1994, Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement in which Moscow would assume the Ukrainian public debt, but Moscow did not disclose the value of Ukrainian assets, preventing ratification and leaving the agreement unenforceable.
Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko stated that Russia did not disclose full data on the USSR’s property and debts due to the existence of far more assets than debts. Ohryzko claimed that Soviet possessions around the world are now de facto controlled by the Russian Federation but not de jure owned by it.
The succession agreement on foreign public debt and assets of the USSR, signed in Moscow in 1991, allocated each republic’s share. Russia reportedly received more than 61.34 percent, Ukraine 16.37 percent. Subsequently, Russia concluded bilateral agreements with each former Soviet republic. The full breakdown of Soviet foreign assets was never made public.
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