Yukos shareholders confident

Western investors believe $50bn award will be upheld

The former majority shareholders in Yukos, which was Russia’s largest privately owned energy company until its assets were appropriated by the Putin government between 2003 and 2007, say they are confident that the Netherlands Court of Appeal will confirm an award against Russia of $50 billion plus interest and costs.

Yukos petrol station, Moscow, 2007

Here is the background to the case:

Putin claims he doesn’t owe $50bn

The former majority shareholders say they won today on all substantive grounds of Russia’s appeal to the Netherlands Supreme Court. However, the court decided that some factual allegations needed to be reviewed in full, having been decided previously by the Court of Appeal on purely procedural grounds. The Supreme Court therefore referred the case to the Court of Appeal in Amsterdam, which will review this one issue.

Tim Osborne, chief executive of the former majority shareholders’ holding company, said this morning:

We will study the Supreme Court ruling, but are confident that the Court of Appeal in Amsterdam will dismiss the baseless allegations raised by the Russian Federation and the arbitral awards will be upheld.

In a statement to reporters, the shareholders’ public relations team added:

The Supreme Court sided with the former Yukos majority shareholders on six of seven substantive grounds, but decided that the seventh, which had been dismissed on procedural grounds at the Court of Appeal, should have been considered on the merits. The other six grounds put forward by the Russian Federation are definitively rejected, including the issue of jurisdiction.