UPDATE: Hague crt cancels $50 bln Russia’s Yukos compensation ruling

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MOSCOW/BRUSSELS, Apr 20 (PRIME) -- The Hague District Court has recognized invalid an earlier decision to award the shareholders of defunct Russian oil company Yukos a U.S. $50 billion compensation from the Russian government, according to a statement seen by PRIME on Wednesday.

“The Russian Federation was not bound by the provisional application of the arbitration regulations,” the court said, referring to an energy treaty that Russia signed but has not ratified. “The Tribunal wrongly declared itself competent in the Arbitration to take cognizance of the claims and issue the ensuing award.”

The court also demanded that the three companies uniting the Yukos former owners, Hulley Enterprises Limited, Veteran Petroleum and Yukos Universal Limited, repaid the costs on litigations borne by Russia, preliminarily estimated at 16,801 euros.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in July 2014 that Russia pay the compensation to owners of Yukos for the company’s bankruptcy ruling and asset nationalization. Russian authorities refused to fulfill the court order, and sent three appeals against it.

The shareholders are demanding arrests of Russian property in six countries, while Moscow is trying to contest the legality of the claims, Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said earlier.

The Wednesday’s decision does not automatically cancel the earlier arrests of the Russian property but gives reasons to contest them, the Justice Ministry said.

The former owners can contest the court decision but there are little chances that they will succeed, Niuscia Bassiri, a partner at Hanotiau & van den Berg, the agency representing the Russian government’s interests in the court, said. “They can only try to persuade the court of appeals that Russia ratified the energy pact,” she said.

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