GENEVA

The Vienna Regional Court for Civil Matters confirmed Tuesday a ruling allowing enforcement orders against several Russian-owned properties in Austria.

The decision marks another victory for the Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz in its legal efforts to seize Russian assets in Austria.

The legal dispute stems from developments following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. After the annexation, Naftogaz sought compensation for assets taken over by Russia in Crimea, including gas facilities and pipelines.

In 2023, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of the company and awarded compensation totaling approximately $4.2 billion. Based on the arbitration award, Naftogaz began searching for Russian assets in Europe and identified several properties in Austria.

In 2025, the company filed requests for the forced sale of a total of 23 Russian-owned properties, including houses in the Vienna districts of Wahring, Dobling and Donaustadt, as well as in Salzburg and Purkersdorf in Lower Austria.

In the summer of 2025, the Vienna Innere Stadt District Court ruled in favor of the company. A statement from the court read:

“The Vienna Innere Stadt District Court declared the arbitration award enforceable and authorized its execution.”

However, the proceedings were not concluded at that stage. Russia challenged the district court’s decision and appealed to the Vienna Regional Court for Civil Matters.

The higher court has now upheld the ruling of the Vienna Innere Stadt District Court.

The court states in its announcement Tuesday: “The Vienna Regional Court for Civil Matters upholds the decision of the Vienna Innere Stadt District Court, noting that the issue of state immunity does not need to be addressed in the present proceedings, in which the enforceability of the arbitral award was determined and a writ of execution was issued.”

According to the Regional Court, the issue of state immunity must first be examined in proceedings concerning a possible suspension of enforcement.

“The appeal decision is final as far as the authorization for enforcement is concerned. For each individual property, it will be necessary to examine specifically whether it falls under state immunity,” the court further states.

Russia now has the option of appealing to the Supreme Court of Austria. There, it must be definitively determined whether the Russian properties can be auctioned.

However, even if the Supreme Court upholds the Regional Court’s decision, each property would still have to be examined individually to determine whether it qualifies for state immunity.

This would apply if the properties were used by Russia for sovereign purposes and therefore could not be auctioned.

In court proceedings, Russia relied primarily on the argument of sovereign immunity.