The special regulation adopted by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security limits the possibility of seizing assets located in, or on their way to, local communities on Svalbard when those assets are necessary for maintaining and operating the communities.
The ministry says the rules under the Enforcement Act and the Satisfaction of Claims Act did not sufficiently take the need to safeguard supplies to Svalbard into account.
Spokesperson with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Frank Lynum, said to the Barents Observer that there have been several cases in which Russian assets in Svalbard have been subject to attachment or seizure.
”The supply situation in Svalbard requires predictability, and it is important to establish a regulatory framework that clearly safeguards essential supply needs. It is therefore important that these necessary clarifications to the legislation are put in place now, so that any future cases can be dealt with on this basis,” Lynum explains.
In practice, the regulation makes it more difficult for Ukraine to enforce an arbitral award against Russian assets used to transport essential supplies to Barentsburg, the Russian mining settlement on Svalbard. Läs artikel