MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The assets were seized as part of the case involving former shareholders of Yukos energy company.
"The court in Brussels has lifted seizure off all… property [of Russian companies], including assets of RIA Novosti and TASS news agencies, which was carried out as part of the case of former shareholders of Yukos," Kondakov said.
In July 2014, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ordered Russia to pay former Yukos shareholders $50 billion. Moscow appealed the decision, but the shareholders turned to courts in several countries asking to freeze Russian state assets. The demand was granted in France and Belgium in 2015.
In April 2016, the Hague District Court overturned the verdict of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the grounds that the case was out of the latter court's jurisdiction.
RIA Novosti belongs to the Rossiya Segodnya, international media group whose mission is to cover world events in a prompt, balanced, and unbiased manner. Rossiya Segodnya offers alternative views on key events in Russia and elsewhere. Besides Sputnik, the agency operates a number of information resources, including RIA Real Estate, Prime, R-Sport, RIA Rating and InoSMI. Rossiya Segodnya boasts the highest citation ranking among Russian media and is building the citation rate of its foreign brands while leading in the Russian blogosphere and social media.
