Court keeps Professor Molchanov under arrest in Barentsburg

Nord-Troms og Senja tingrett (Nord-Troms and Senja District Court) ruled on 28 October that the arrest of the Russian research vessel Professor Molchanov in Barentsburg stays in force. Trust Arktikugol (Russia's state-owned company on Svalbard) had asked for the arrest to be lifted. According to NRK, the court found that the company has no right to have the case heard. The Barents Observer wrote that Arktikugol had the ship on charter until 15 October and does not own it.

The Barents Observer reported that Arktikugol must pay the winning side's costs of NOK 2,882,000 within two weeks. The judges pointed to Russia as the original defendant, NRK and the Barents Observer wrote. Russia itself can still ask for the measures to be lifted.

Naftogaz, the Ukrainian state-owned energy company, asked for the arrest. Its lawyer Herman Steen of the firm Wikborg Rein told NRK that the client is very pleased and won outright, with its costs awarded in full. He said Naftogaz will keep using every legal step available to collect what it is owed. The claim stems from a 2023 ruling by an arbitration tribunal in The Hague, which ordered Russia to pay 4.2 billion US dollars, plus interest and costs, for losses in Crimea, the Barents Observer reported.

Sysselmesteren (the Governor of Svalbard) said in its own notice that it carried out the arrest on 2 September, on the court's instruction. On 22 October the Barents Observer reported other seizures sought by Naftogaz: the Russki Dom travel centre in Longyearbyen, four bank accounts, 15 cars and 62 snowmobiles. Oslo tingrett (Oslo District Court) had also authorised the taking of five Russian-owned properties in the capital.

At the hearing, Arktikugol's lawyers argued that the ship is vital for supplying the Russian settlements, the Barents Observer reported. It was scheduled for ten sailings between the Russian mainland and Svalbard this year. In a report on 22 October, the paper said that, despite claims by the Russian Embassy in Oslo and Arktikugol, the vessel has been of little importance for supplying Barentsburg, a Russian mining settlement on the west coast of Spitsbergen. Other cargo ships bring the food, fuel and machinery.

No comment on the ruling from Russia or Arktikugol had been reported by 29 October. NRK said it had not reached the company's lawyer, Arnt Angell of the firm Elden. RIA Novosti reported that an official at the district court said Arktikugol can take the case to a Norwegian court of appeal. RIA also recalled that the Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman had called the arrest a well-planned operation to limit Russia's presence, and said Russia would counter Norwegian attempts to complicate its activity on the archipelago. On 3 September, Arctic Today, citing Reuters, reported that Russia called the arrest an act of piracy and summoned the Norwegian ambassador.

Norway's justice ministry sees the dispute as one between Naftogaz and Russia, Arctic Today reported, citing Reuters. On 18 September Justis- og beredskapsdepartementet (the Ministry of Justice and Public Security) issued a regulation on seizures. It said Svalbard's location can leave supply lines to some communities more exposed than on the mainland. The regulation limits the seizure of assets that are in, or on their way to, such communities and are needed to run them. The ministry set the rule without a consultation round, to secure necessary supplies.

Updated 29 October 2026: This report was expanded with the court's reasoning, both sides' positions and the full list of sources.

Coverage: NRK, The Barents Observer, RIA Novosti, Arctic Today