The Higher Regional Court of Vienna unfroze the accounts of SIBUR International GmbH, the export division of SIBUR, Russia's largest producer of polymers and synthetic rubbers, in late September, bne IntelliNews has learned. 

SIBUR International, which was known as Citco prior to 2009, is a large and well-known trader that supplies products not only to Europe but also to other international markets.

According to sources in EU legal circles, in late June the Austrian Ministry of the Interior registered the freezing of SIBUR International's assets. Three months later, SIBUR managed to overturn this decision by proving in a Vienna court that it was unjustified.

The Ministry of the Interior had sought to freeze SIBUR International's accounts on the grounds that the parent company, Russia's SIBUR Holding, was allegedly owned or controlled by individuals close to the Russian state who had been included in the European Union and UK sanctions lists.

The Vienna court found that the stakes in SIBUR Holding held by the sanctioned individuals could not be deemed to constitute ownership or control of the company, and that therefore there were no legal grounds to freeze SIBUR International's assets.

Moreover, during the legal proceedings it was revealed that the Ministry of the Interior had based its conclusions on a questionable media report by The Insider. The court found that the information in the relevant article was based on rumours rather than well-researched facts.

SIBUR also prevails in a Swedish arbitration

In addition to the Austrian litigation, SIBUR International also won another dispute related to false information about sanctions. The British branch of Kimberly-Clark, a health and hygiene products manufacturer, had refused to pay the company for polypropylene delivered in 2022, arguing that SIBUR was allegedly owned by individuals on the EU and UK sanctions lists.

The case included testimony from Swedish publicist and political scientist Anders Åslund, who claimed that SIBUR was owned by friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, using his own books as supporting evidence.

The dispute was heard by the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. In August, the arbitral tribunal ruled that SIBUR was not under the control of sanctioned individuals, and Kimberly-Clark was ordered to pay SIBUR International €1.1mn for the polypropylene that had been delivered, as well as a similar amount for legal and court costs.

Information about the international arbitral award came to light from a ruling by the Commercial Court of the Moscow Region, where Kimberly-Clark has a factory that produces Huggies diapers, Kotex pads, and Kleenex wet wipes. The court ordered recognition and enforcement of the award in Russia, as the local plant is part of the international Kimberly-Clark group.