Russian court hands UAE-owned warehouse assets over to Russian state, company says

(Reuters) - All 16 warehouses of Russia's largest warehouse owner have been handed over to the Russian state, the company, Emirati-owned Raven Russia said, citing a court decision that it labelled as unlawful and groundless.

Russia has placed several foreign-owned assets under the management of Rosimushchestvo, Russia's federal property management agency, since the enactment of an April 2023 decree, sometimes going on to force through asset sales to hand-picked buyers.

Raven Russia is majority owned by United Arab Emirates company Lorenia Holdings Limited, Russian tax records show.

Raven Property Group, founded in the British Crown Dependency Guernsey in 2005, says it divested its Russian business to members of its Russian management team in July 2022, but that it retains an investment in non-voting preference shares.

"Sixteen warehouse complexes, built and acquired by Raven Russia since 2005, were recognised as transport terminals operating under natural monopoly conditions and subject to transfer to Rosimushchestvo," Raven Russia said in a statement published on Sunday.

The court proceedings have been closed to journalists, but documents show the case was filed by Russia's Prosecutor General and that an appeal has been set for March 11.

The Prosecutor General did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"The company believes that the hearings were held with numerous procedural violations," Raven Russia said.

Raven Russia said its arguments on the merits of the dispute were ignored and described the decision to close proceedings to the press as "unreasonable".

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Gleb Stolyarov)