Norway makes it harder for Ukraine to seize Russian ships at Svalbard

Norway's justice ministry has adopted a special regulation that limits seizure of assets located in, or heading to, Svalbard communities when those assets are needed to keep the communities running. The text reached Norwegian media, among them the Barents Observer, at 17:10 on a Friday. The ministry says two laws on enforcement and on satisfaction of claims did not adequately weigh supply needs on Svalbard. Ministry spokesperson Frank Lynum said Russian assets on the archipelago had been attached or seized in several cases, and that supplies need predictability.

In practice, Ukraine will find it harder to enforce an arbitral award against Russian property carrying essential goods to Barentsburg. Less than three weeks earlier, on 31 August, a district court in Nord-Troms and Senja allowed Naftogaz Group, owned by the Ukrainian state, to seize the Russian state-owned ship Professor Molchanov, to enforce an award tied to assets Russia expropriated in Crimea in 2014. Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard), acting as enforcement authority, arrested it in Barentsburg on 2 September. Russian officials and state-controlled media criticised Norway.

Lynum said the amendments will not affect the arrest of the Professor Molchanov. Per Arne Totland, a Norwegian author and Svalbard expert whose book Russians on Svalbard came out this week, said the regulation will probably settle the case. He expects the court either to lift the arrest itself or to speed up Russia's appeal of the 31 August ruling.

Totland expects two competing narratives. Norway will say it protects vulnerable communities, Russian ones included, out of respect for the Svalbard Treaty. Russia will say Norway backed down and indirectly acknowledged a breach. Kari Aga Myklebost, a professor of Russian history at the Arctic University of Norway, said Russia will almost certainly present the decision as a victory. Totland also expects Moscow to use the case in messaging to other BRICS countries. Under the 1920 treaty, Norway holds sovereignty over Svalbard, and Norway and Russia both keep permanent settlements there.