Damen sues the Dutch government over sanctions against the Russian Federation

The largest shipbuilding company in the Netherlands, Damen Shipyards Group, filed a lawsuit against the government due to the damage caused by the sanctions imposed against Russia. writes Bloomberg.

Damen spokesman Rick van de Weg told the agency that the company is seeking compensation for damages. “Before the sanctions, Damen signed contracts with Russian ship buyers,” he noted. After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, he said, “the Dutch government decided that such contracts should not be honored by the Dutch business community” and stressed that the government did not offer any compensation.

The company filed a lawsuit in the Rotterdam court on May 10, but since then the case has “made no progress.” Its review is due to continue next year.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry, which is responsible for monitoring compliance with the sanctions, declined to comment.

Damen was founded in 1927 and specializes in the construction of ships, including military ones. Bloomberg notes that the company sold yachts to Russian businessmen. In Russia it had an engineering branch. A week after the start of the special operation in Ukraine in 2022, Damen announced that it had suspended the signing of new contracts with Russian and Belarusian clients and the supply of vessels to them.

The Netherlands is a member of the European Union, which, after the start of the special operation, has already introduced 11 packages of sanctions against Russia in addition to the existing restrictions. The last of these was agreed upon in June. In September, the media wrote that the EU could present a new package of sanctions in the first half of October.