THE HAGUE, May 21. /TASS/. The Supreme Court of the Netherlands received a cassation appeal in the Yukos case, in which the former shareholders of the company are seeking payment of more than $50 billion from the Russian Federation, the court’s official spokesperson, Thea Tjeerdema, told TASS.

"I have just been informed that the cassation appeal has been filed," she said.

Now the court has to study the documents received and decide on further steps.

In 2014, international arbitration, established through the mediation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, after 10 years of consideration of the case ordered Russia to pay more than $50 billion to companies associated with former Yukos shareholders Yukos Universal, Hulley Enterprises and Veteran Petroleum.

The verdict was appealed in the Dutch court. In November 2021, the Dutch Supreme Court satisfied Russia’s cassation appeal on one item saying that former Yukos shareholders committed fraud during the arbitration, remitting the matter to the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. Claims on other items, including those concerning interpretation of provisions of the contract to the Energy Charter, were rejected, while decisions on them recognized as final.

On February 20, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ruled that a complaint of fraud cannot serve as a basis for setting aside arbitration awards. This decision is now being challenged in the Dutch Supreme Court.

Yukos case

Yukos, once Russia’s largest oil firm, was accused of tax crimes and declared bankrupt by a Russian court ruling in 2006 while its assets were sold at auction during the liquidation procedure.

In 2007, former Yukos shareholders filed a lawsuit with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague claiming that the Russian government had expropriated Yukos’ assets and demanding compensation for losses under Article 45 of Europe’s Energy Charter Treaty.