Russia to pay 2.7 mln in Greenpeace ship settlement

The Netherlands and Russia on Friday settled a long-running dispute over the seizure of Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship during an oil drilling protest in 2013, with Moscow expected to pay 2.7 million euros (USD 3 million) in compensation.

The settlement, reached after the Dutch dragged Moscow to various courts following the incident, was reached after talks between Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"The Russian Federation and the Kingdom of the Netherlands... have come to a full and final settlement of any and all mutual claims" arising from the incident, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement with Russia.

Russian commandos seized the Dutch-flagged ship in September 2013 and detained 30 Greenpeace activists and journalists on board after a protest at an offshore oil rig owned by Russian state oil giant Gazprom.

The Dutch government then started several arbitration procedures and in 2017 the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ordered Russia to pay 5.4 million euros (USD 6,03 million) in damages.

The Dutch government Friday did not put a figure on the final compensation, but Greenpeace Netherlands press officer Bram Karst told AFP: "The figure (2.7 million) is correct."
This included the "recognition of the rights relating to peaceful protest which shall be exercised at sea with generally accepted international regulations, procedures and practices."