Explosive Legal Dispute in Vienna: Is Russia Facing the Expropriation of Dozens of Properties for Ukraine?
The Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz has secured a multi-billion-euro arbitration ruling. The Vienna District Court has approved the auction of properties worth over €120 million. The Austrian Foreign Ministry is examining the issue of immunity.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry is now involved in the matter. The question of the immunity of Russian real estate is being examined through administrative assistance. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Gugerell / CC0
The Russian Federation's legal battle in Austria is coming to a head, as reported by “DerStandard”. Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz is about to have around twenty valuable Russian properties in Austria sold off in a foreclosure auction. This measure is intended to compensate Naftogaz for damages incurred as a result of the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Russia has only until shortly before Christmas to appeal the court ruling.
Billions in damages after Crimea annexation
The proceedings stem from a 2023 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. The court awarded Naftogaz damages of five billion U.S. dollars, which is equivalent to around 4.3 billion euros. As Russia refused to pay the compensation, the Ukrainian company filed enforcement applications in several countries, including Austria.
Court grants access to real estate and accounts
In the summer of this year, the Innere Stadt District Court provisionally ruled in favor of the Ukrainians. The July 2025 decision declared the arbitration award enforceable in Austria and granted enforcement. Naftogaz has targeted more than twenty properties with an estimated total value of over 120 million euros.
In the summer of this year, the Innere Stadt District Court provisionally ruled in favor of the Ukrainians. The July 2025 decision declared the arbitration award enforceable in Austria and approved its execution. Naftogaz has targeted more than twenty properties with an estimated total value of over €120 million.
The properties affected include houses in Purkersdorf and Kaltenleutgeben, as well as apartment buildings and apartments in Viennese districts such as Wieden, Währing, Döbling, Leopoldstadt, and Donaustadt. These are explicitly not official diplomatic missions, such as the embassy, which are protected under international law. The properties in question include residential complexes on Technikerstraße in the 4th district and the former office of the Russian news agency TASS on Große Neugasse, for which auction proceedings have already been initiated.
The enforcement order goes beyond real estate: it also grants Naftogaz access to any bank deposits held by the Russian Federation and allows for the “execution of movable property,” i.e., the seizure and sale of movable property in the custody of the Russian state.
Question of immunity and administrative assistance
The Russian Federation, which has already appointed an Austrian law firm to represent it, is expected to invoke state immunity. Under international law, assets that serve a “sovereign purpose” – such as diplomatic purposes – cannot be seized.
The question of which Russian properties are actually considered “sovereign” and therefore immune is now the subject of a complex legal review. The Austrian Foreign Ministry is involved in the matter and is currently examining the immunity issue by way of administrative assistance. The outcome of this review, which will be decisive for the further course of the proceedings, is still pending.