The Dutch Supreme Court backs Russia over Yukos in $57 billion Arbitration Case

The Dutch Supreme Court has overturned a 2014 ruling by a Hague-based arbitration tribunal that ordered Russia to pay $57 billion to former shareholders of Yukos, a defunct oil giant once owned by ex-oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The Supreme Court quashed the Appeal Court’s final judgement, as well as the court’s preceding judgement, noting that the case would be referred to the Amsterdam Court of Appeal for “renewed judgement.”

The judges contended that Russia had acceptable grounds for appealing the 2014 ruling, and ordered the Appeals Court to reconsider the claim that the former shareholders had committed fraud.

The court noted that Russia’s other objections to the 2014 ruling had been rejected.

In a statement, it claimed that, Russia’s primary objection concerned the way in which the Appeals Court had dealt with Moscow’s argument that the shareholders had allegedly committed fraud during the arbitration procedure.

The ruling comes after seven years of legal wrangling following the verdict of the arbitration tribunal in 2014, which ruled that Moscow had violated its international obligations in having taken steps to bankrupt the massive oil company in the early 2000’s.

Among the claimants is former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested in 2003 on charges on fraud. Once Russia’s richest man, Khodorkovsky was charged and imprisoned until 2013.

The London-based businessman had snapped up former Soviet assets for knockdown prices in the 1990’s, creating an oil and gas behemoth. Khodorkovsky claimed his arrest was politically motivated.

RT. com / ABC Flash point News 2021.