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Kremlin says measures are being taken in response to attempts to arrest Russian property

Former Yukos shareholders achieved arrest of payments by launch services provider Arianespace and satellite operator Eutelsat addressed to their Russian counterparts
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Sergei Fadeichev/TASS
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Russia is taking retaliatory measures in response to attempts of Yukos shareholders to arrest Russian property, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday.

"Of course, legal actions are undertaken to defend Russia's interests," Peskov said. "We are talking about legal procedures, legal retaliatory measures which the Russian side is undertaking," he added.

Peskov said he does not have detailed information about recent court rulings "to be able to comment on this."

Media reported earlier that Yukos shareholders achieved arrest of payments by launch services provider Arianespace and satellite operator Eutelsat addressed to their Russian counterparts. The shareholders also have a claim on arrest of the Russian property in Air France, including the company’s payments for flying over Siberia.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on July 31, 2014 to award over €1.866 billion in compensation payments to former Yukos shareholders under their complaint filed against Russia.

The ECHR concluded that Russian courts had breached Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights stipulating the right to a fair trial when they had examined Yukos taxation issues in the early 2000s because the company had not been given enough time to prepare for its defense.

The court also obliged Russia to pay €300,000 to former Yukos shareholders as compensation for their judicial expenses.

Yukos case

Yukos oil giant was accused of tax crimes and declared a bankrupt by a Russian court ruling in 2006 while its assets were sold at auctions during the liquidation procedure.

Yukos former head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were found guilty of embezzlement and tax evasion in May 2005 and sentenced to nine years in prison.

While serving their prison term, both Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering in a second criminal case in December 2010 and sentenced to 14 years in prison, with account taken of the jail term they had served.

Khodorkovsky was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin and left the prison in December 2013. Lebedev was released from the jail in early 2014.