Foreign financiers complaining about the legal wars they will launch to recover bad debts in Russia rarely mean much. The expense of a lawsuit (1) the satisfaction; the chances of getting any money are (2) .
Yet Noga, a company owned by Nessim Gaon, a 78-year-old businessman (3) in Geneva, has been suing the Russian government since 1993, attempting to (4) Russian assets abroaD、At Mr. Gaon’s request, bailiffs last week very nearly (5) two of Russia’s most advanced warplanes at the Paris air (6) . The organisers (7) off the Russian authorities, and the planes flew home, just (8) time. (9) near-misses include a sail-training ship, the Sedov, nuclear-waste shipments, and the president’s plane. Mr. Gaon. whose previous business partners include regimes in Nigeria and Sudan, put an (10) clause in his original export deals: Russia must abandon its sovereign immunity.An arbitration court in Stockholm has found in his (11) , so far, to the (12) of $110 million, out of a total (13) of $420 million. Other courts (14) the world have let him have a (15) at any Russian assets (16) reach. The odd thing is (17) RussiA、now awash with cash, does not simply pay up. Mr. Gaon says he was told at one point that a 10% (18) on the debt to someone high up in the finance ministry would solve things. (19) off Mr. Gaon costs much in legal fees. Not accepting international judgments sits ill with the current Kremlin line (20) the rule of law. Mr. Gaon says his next move will be to seize Russia’s embassy in Paris. A.in B.on C.at D.to