俄罗斯石油公司因制裁起诉欧盟

Moscow is taking the EU to court over the sanctions slapped on some of its largest companies, in a sign of the pain their exclusion from global capital markets is inflicting on the Russian economy.

针对欧盟制裁俄罗斯一些大企业，莫斯科方面正把欧盟告上法庭。这个迹象表明，把这些企业挡在全球资本市场门外，正给俄罗斯经济带来极大痛苦。

Rosneft, the state oil company, and Arkady Rotenberg, a long-time friend and former judo sparring partner of President Vladimir Putin, have both launched legal challenges to the sanctions, imposed over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

国营的俄罗斯石油公司(Rosneft)以及俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)长期好友、前柔道陪练伙伴阿尔卡季•罗滕贝格(Arkady Rotenberg)都向制裁措施发起法律挑战。这些制裁是因为俄罗斯插手乌克兰事务而实施的。

The EU bans, together with similar measures adopted by the US, have all but frozen Russian companies and banks out of western capital markets, at a time when they have to refinance more than $130bn of foreign debt due for redemption by the end of 2015.

与美国采取的类似措施相互配合，欧盟的禁令基本上把俄罗斯企业和银行挡在西方资本市场门外，而后者在2015年底之前必须为1300多亿美元的到期外债安排再融资。

Rosneft filed a case against the European Council in the general court under the European Court of Justice last week, requesting an annulment of the council’s July decision that largely barred it and other Russian energy companies and state banks from raising funds on European capital markets. Mr Rotenberg, who was hit with an EU visa ban and asset freeze in July, filed a legal case in the same court a day later challenging the move.

俄罗斯石油公司上周在欧洲法院(European Court of Justice)的普通法院对欧洲理事会(European Council)提起诉讼，请求废除后者在7月份作出的决定，即禁止该公司、俄罗斯其它能源企业以及国有银行在欧洲资本市场上筹集资金。次日，7月遭遇欧盟签证禁令和资产冻结的罗滕贝格在同一法院提起诉讼，挑战针对他的制裁措施。

A Russian lawyer who advises one company on legal strategies over sanctions said the challenges might help sway some EU member states when the bloc discusses whether to renew its sanctions against Russia next spring. However, as the sanctions generally remain in place during the often lengthy appeals process, legal action does not promise quick relief from the economic pain such measures inflict.

在制裁问题上为某公司提供法律策略建议的一名俄罗斯律师表示，在明年春天欧盟讨论要不要延长对俄制裁时，这些法律挑战也许有助于影响某些欧盟成员国。然而，在往往漫长的诉讼过程中，制裁措施一般会继续实施，因此法律行动不能很快缓解制裁造成的经济痛苦。

Rosneft’s request was filed on behalf of the company itself and other unidentified parties. The capital markets sanctions that the company wants overturned also affect Russia’s largest state lenders Sberbank, VTB, VEB, Gazprombank and Rosselkhozbank, as well as Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of the state gas monopoly, and Transneft, the state-owned pipeline monopoly.

俄罗斯石油公司的诉讼请求是代表该公司本身和其它身份不明的当事人提起的。该公司希望推翻的资本市场制裁还影响到俄罗斯各大国有银行，包括俄罗斯联邦储蓄银行(Sberbank)、俄罗斯外贸银行(VTB)、俄罗斯国家开发银行(VEB)、俄罗斯天然气工业银行股份公司(Gazprombank)和俄罗斯农业银行(Rosselkhozbank)，以及俄罗斯天然气工业公司(Gazprom)的石油业务部门Gazprom Neft，以及国有管道垄断企业Transneft。

The EU said the council would defend the sanctions in court. “The council takes great care to ensure legal robustness when adopting restrictive measures,” it said. “The fact that court proceedings are brought does not mean that the restrictive measures will be suspended during those proceedings.”

欧盟表示，欧洲理事会将在法庭上为这些制裁措施作出辩护。“理事会在采取限制措施时非常谨慎，以确保法律依据充分，”它说。“启动诉讼程序的事实并不意味着这些限制措施将在诉讼期间暂停。”