Business assets in occupied territory: damage and loss of control

Being unable to use property is not the same fact as physical damage to it. Equipment may remain intact while the business has no access to it. A damaged building may stand in territory to which access has already been restored. A claim needs to explain both what happened to the property and what happened to control over it.

[1][2]

The official C3.2 explanation connects loss of control with being deprived, wholly or to a significant degree, of the ability to use, enjoy or dispose of property without reliance on the Russian Federation, its authorities or entities it controls. A claim of this kind therefore does not necessarily assert that the asset has been destroyed.

[2][3]

Legal title, location, the timing of the loss of control and its connection with temporary occupation also matter. C3.2 concerns loss of control sustained on or after 24 February 2022 in Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders as a result of Russia's internationally wrongful acts in or against Ukraine; the category's other conditions also apply. A label such as “property in occupied territory” is not a substitute for that account.

[2]

This table is a preparation tool. It does not prescribe an additional mandatory document or determine the outcome of a claim.

C3.1 concerns damage, destruction or loss of assets and the associated economic consequences. C3.2 concerns loss of control over property in temporarily occupied territory. Where the facts include both aspects, describe them separately and compare the applicable forms. Do not claim the same asset value twice without explaining the distinct component of harm that each claim addresses.

[1][2]

Restored access is not a reason to conceal an earlier period without control or to keep repeating an unchanged initial account. Record when access returned, the actual condition of the asset and the costs of restoring it. If control of the property is restored after filing, the claimant must notify the Register by updating the claim. The consequences then claimed depend on the subject of the claim and the applicable rules, not on a single box in a table.

[4]

For an initial account, collect material already held by the business: title documents, asset records, contracts, earlier photographs, inventory records and correspondence about the loss of access. Record the origin and date of each file. These are recommendations for organising an existing archive, not a statement that every item is mandatory.

Do not compensate for the lack of a recent photograph by making an unsafe journey or creating an image. Clearly separate what is supported from what is currently unknown. When using public reports, maps or satellite material, retain the source and explain both what the material supports and what it cannot establish.

The official instructions provide for relevant supporting evidence and retention of originals. A document copy, a technical description and an account of the event serve different purposes; one item should not be described as proving every circumstance.

[2]

C3.2 instructions provide for an estimated amount, itemisation and a methodology. Questions may separately arise about the property's value, lost profits and total loss of a business. Do not add these figures mechanically: identify which economic effects have already been included in each calculation.

[2]

The practical next step is a chronology of control and a list of claim components. Link each component to a document or calculation. Where title, complex calculations or several related proceedings require an individual legal assessment, distinguish that work from the technical act of submitting a form.