Yukos shareholders will not receive USD 50 billion compensation - Dutch Court

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 06 Nov 2021 by Alex Teddy
On November 5 the Supreme Court of the Netherlands overturned an order for Russia to pay USD 50 billion to former shareholders of Yukos. The oil giant was dismantled years ago. However, the case looks likely to continue. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal is going to reconsider the case.Yukos was owned by Mikhail Khodorkovsky who was jailed for tax evasion in what many believe was a political vendetta. He was anti-Putin.Moscow applauded the court's ruling. They believe that Russia shall ultimately prevail. The original Dutch ruling was an arbitration award in 2014. It is the largest pay out ever recorded. Russia's lawyers argued that the shareholders committed fraud during the arbitration. They claimed that the Dutch Court of Appeal had been wrong to dismiss the case on procedural grounds.The Dutch Supreme Court said that most of Russia's argumentation was unmeritorious. Moscow has claimed that it was not bound by an international energy treaty. The 2014 ruling was pursuant to a judgment by the International Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague.Khodorkovsky bought oil assets in the 1990s for a fraction of their true value. This was seen as the prime example of bandit capitalism. Even he later publicly acknowledge that his conduct was unethical. He is widely perceived in Russia as a robber baron. He now resides in London and Switzerland. Yukos was broken up due to enormous tax demands. It was sold off in a series of auctions that were not really public. State companied led by Rosneft acquired Yukos in 2005. Rosneft is now Russia's main oil company.Erstwhile Yukos shareholders headed by GML (a financial holding company) demanded compensation from Moscow. GML cons...

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