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Amsterdam Court Orders Freeze of Gazprom Middle East Assets in Kurdistan Debt Case
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
An Amsterdam court has frozen the assets of Gazprom Neft’s Dutch subsidiary, Gazprom Neft Middle East (GNME), Vedomosti reported on August 12, citing court documents. The company, which posted a 1.8-fold drop in net profit in the first half of the year, used GNME to participate in oil and gas projects in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The ruling follows a claim by Alcazar Capital Partners, a Cayman Islands–based investment firm that has been trying for years to recover a debt from the Kurdish government. Alcazar argues that GNME holds assets owed to the Kurdistan authorities, which could be used to secure repayment.
Gazprom Neft entered Kurdistan’s Garmian oil and gas block through GNME in 2012 and became the project’s operator in 2016.
Alcazar is the investment arm of Kuwaiti logistics group Agility, which also partners with Kuwait’s government on digital and waste management projects. In 2007, Alcazar issued a $250 million loan to Korek Telecom, with the Kurdistan government acting as guarantor. The borrower defaulted, and the authorities in Erbil refused to honor the guarantee.
In 2022, Alcazar won a Kuwaiti court ruling ordering the Kurdish government to pay $490 million, including interest. But in May 2024, a court in Erbil, at the request of the Kurdish government, barred Alcazar from enforcing the judgment locally. The firm has since moved to enforce it in other jurisdictions, including the Netherlands.
During proceedings in March, GNME told the Amsterdam District Court it had no assets outside Kurdistan and that its funds were held only in Kurdistan and Russia. Court documents state the Kurdish government owed GNME $117 million under a production sharing agreement (PSA) as of April, with annual payments under the PSA not exceeding $5 million. GNME also maintained it made no payments to the Kurdish authorities.
The company attempted to block the seizure by citing technical issues, such as the arrest order being sent to an address where GNME no longer had an office. The court rejected these arguments, ruling in favor of Alcazar.
Earlier, it was reported that Ukraine’s Naftogaz Group will move to enforce a $5 billion arbitration award against Russia for the illegal seizure of its assets in Crimea.
