WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – In July 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Russia must pay about $2 billion to the shareholders of Yukos, which was declared bankrupt in 2006 and was later absorbed into the state-owned Rosneft energy company. Stakeholders said the purchase was not conducted equitably.
The Russian Justice Ministry said it would not follow the ECHR ruling because compliance would put the ministry in breach of Russia’s constitution.
"It is our policy to not comment on specific service requests that have been made of the State Department," a State Department official told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
In a separate ruling last year, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said that Russia must pay about $50 billion to GML Ltd., a holding company belonging to four former owners of Yukos.
Belgium and France began collecting the damages in June, freezing some Russian assets, although they were later unblocked.
The Yukos plaintiffs expect Russia to respond to the legal actions in Washington and London to enforce the award before the end of August.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned that it would seize foreign state assets in direct proportion to the amount of any Russian assets frozen in other countries.
