Haas has rejected a claim from Uralkali to refund $13 mn that it received in advance as the sponsorship sum for the 2022 season.
Haas terminated its sponsorship deal with the Russian company Uralkali in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The team also removed their Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, whose father Dmitry Mazepin owns Uralkali.
At the start of the season, when Haas made the decision, Uralkali said that it was considering legal actions. The company wanted repayment of the money it had already paid to the team for the 2022 season.
Uralkali issued a statement last month citing that it requests the immediate reimbursement of the amount received by Haas.
The statement read, “Most of the sponsorship funding for the 2022 season has already been transferred to Haas. And given that the team terminated the sponsorship agreement before the first race of the 2022 season, Haas has failed to perform its obligations to Uralkali.”
The Russian company wrote to Haas to discuss the team’s rights to terminate the contract. It also asked for a refund of $13 million that the team had received in advance.
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Motorsport.com reports that after Uralkali’s claim of repayment, Haas responded and rejected the company’s claims.
Haas insists the team had the right to end the deal with the company as per a clause in the sponsorship agreement. The clause states that Uralkali does not ‘injure, bring into dispute, ridicule, or lessen the public reputation of Haas.’
The company triggered the clause given Mazepin’s relations with the Kremlin and sanctions that were followed by the EU. However, when the team terminated the contract sanction by the EU or any other party had been imposed.
In a letter to the company, the team explained why it does not believe that the money needs to be repaid. The letter said that Haas has no obligation to repay Uralkali the amount it has already received under the agreement.
“The claim of Uralkali to obtain the re-payment of $13 million is therefore ungrounded and rejected.”
Moreover, Haas said that it is entitled to compensation for the loss of profits it would have made if the deal had continued. The American outfit has demanded payment of €8 million in lieu of this.
Haas made clear that it will not fulfil a clause in its original contract until it receives the money. The letter adds: “Unless and until the aforesaid amount will have been paid to Haas no obligation exists on Haas’ side to deliver and no delivery of the F1 car will occur.”
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