Belgium stops proceedings under Yukos owners’ suit against Russia

MOSCOW, Nov 2 (PRIME) -- Former shareholders of defunct Russian oil company Yukos have said that Belgium has terminated all proceedings under a 2015 suit filed by the owners over implementation of a decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, head of the International Center for Legal Protection Andrei Kondakov told PRIME Thursday.

“This means that all arrests of Russian Federation’s property in Belgium will be finally lifted. The decision to lift the arrests was made by the Brussels court already in June, but former Yukos owners refused to fulfill it and filed an appeal. They saw the futility of the appeal in several months, and simply recalled their suit,” he said.

Now all executions initiated by former Yukos owners against Russia are either terminated or suspended, he said.

In 2003, the Russian government accused management of the then major oil company Yukos of economic crimes. Several company officials were sentenced to prison for fraud and tax evasion. Its core owner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was charged with several consequential sentences and spent 10 years in prison before he was pardoned by President Vladimir Putin. The company later declared bankruptcy, and its assets were sold to state-owned oil major Rosneft.

In July 2014, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague ruled that the Russian government must pay a $50 billion compensation to GML, which unites former Yukos owners. Russia refused to fulfill the court order, and the shareholders sent claims to several countries, asking to help with the fulfillment of the court order. Russian assets seizures began in France and Belgium, and the Russian government contested them.

The District Court of The Hague cancelled the lower court decision on compensation in April 2016 on the ground that the case is beyond the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague.

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