Russia Calls for Recognition Hague Court Lacked Authority in Yukos Case

Moscow calls for recognition that the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague lacked the proper authority when it ruled to award former Yukos shareholders $50 billion, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the Hague District Court Tuesday, citing the Russian side's lawyer Jan van den Berg.

THE HAGUE (Sputnik) — Russia filed several appeals against the arbitration court's 2014 ruling, including with the Hague District Court.

Yukos, which used to be controlled by former Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was declared bankrupt by Moscow's Court of Arbitration in 2006. State-run Rosneft subsequently purchased about 80 percent of the company's assets.

Former Yukos managers claim that Russian authorities illegally forced the company out of business in order to obtain its assets. An international arbitration court ruled in 2014 that Russia must pay $50 billion in damages for expropriating the Yukos assets. In June, France and Belgium froze Russian government assets, including bank accounts.

Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said in December that Russia had appealed the Hague court's decision in the Yukos case in as many as eight counties.