THE HAGUE, February 9. /TASS/. The Hague Arbitration Tribunal, which awarded over $50 billion in compensation to former Yukos shareholders, had no competence to pass this ruling, lawyer of the Russian side Albert Jan van den Berg said at public hearings on Tuesday.

The arbitration tribunal "set up with the mediation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague had no jurisdiction for a number of reasons for examining this case," the lawyer said.

"Specifically, this is because Russia has not ratified the Energy Charter pursuant to which the ruling was passed," he added.

In the summer of 2014, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague passed a ruling in a lawsuit, in which former shareholders in Yukos, once Russia’s largest oil company, had sought some $100 billion in compensation from Russia.

In its final awards, the arbitration tribunal unanimously ruled that Russia "had taken measures with the effect equivalent to an expropriation of claimants’ investments in Yukos and thus had breached the Energy Charter Treaty."

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.

It was reported in February 2015 that Russia had appealed to the district court of The Hague against the arbitration ruling.