GENEVA, November 17 (RIA Novosti, Yekaterina Andrianova) - Swiss trading company Noga expressed shock over the release of Russian paintings impounded Tuesday in Switzerland, a company lawyer said Thursday.
"We are indignant at the Swiss government's decision to lift the arrest of the Russian paintings," the lawyer said. "[This decision] violates all principles of division of powers."
Noga owner Nessim Gaon said the company, which has been involved in a long-running dispute with Russia, had hoped to use the paintings to pressure Russia. "Pay me my money and I will leave you alone," he said at a news conference in Geneva.
Gaon said he intended to pursue legal measures against Russia until it paid its debt to the company.
The $1-billion collection of paintings from Moscow's Pushkin Fine Arts Museum left Geneva Thursday bound for Russia via Germany after Swiss authorities lifted the arrest.
