The Dutch Supreme Court overturned Russia’s decision to pay more than $ 50 billion to former shareholders of the Russian oil company Yukos. The case was returned to the appellate court.
“The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Hague Court of Appeal and sent the case for retrial to the Amsterdam Court of Appeal for a decision,” the ruling, posted November 5 on website court.
In December 2020, a court in the Netherlands resumed judicial execution following a decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration to recover $ 50 billion from the Russian Federation in the Yukos case.
The oil company existed from 1993 to 2007. In 2003, Yukos executives were charged with tax evasion. As a result, the owners and managers of the company, including Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. Khodorkovsky was released in 2013 after a pardon, Lebedev at the beginning of 2014.
On August 1, 2007, YUKOS was declared bankrupt. This did not suit foreign shareholders, and they filed a lawsuit against Russia for $ 114 billion with the International Arbitration Court in The Hague.The claim was satisfied, but its amount was reduced to $ 50 billion. had the necessary competence for this.
On February 18, the Hague Court of Appeal ruled that Russia is obliged to pay more than $ 50 billion to former Yukos shareholders. The court satisfied the demand of the ex-shareholders of the company to cancel the decision of the District Court of The Hague and reinstated the decision to pay the funds.
Russia appealed the decision of the Hague Court of Appeal in mid-May 2020. Then the Ministry of Justice drew attention to the fact that the instance did not take into account the violations by the plaintiffs of anti-corruption and “anti-money laundering” regulation. Thus, the former majority shareholders of Yukos gained control over the assets through proven collusion, fictitious bidding and bribery of officials in charge of privatization.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice pointed out that the Hague Court of Appeal did not take into account the company’s proven tax evasion and “almost completely ignored” the facts of Yukos using fly-by-night firms in regions with preferential taxation.
In early December of the same year, it was reported that the Supreme Court of the Netherlands rejected Russia’s petition to suspend the execution of arbitration awards in the Yukos case. The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation considered the decision unreasonable and stressed that Russia would continue to defend its legitimate interests in the Netherlands and other jurisdictions.
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