MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/. The 10,000-euro compensation for moral damages the European Court of Human Rights awarded to former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been used to offset part of his tax arrears to Russia, estimated at 17.5 billion rubles (226 million euros), the Federal Service of Court Bailiffs has told TASS.

"The court bailiffs found out that under a ruling pronounced by the European Court of Human Rights in the case Khodorkovsky and Lebedev vs Russia in connection with the Russian authorities’ violations of the Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Khodorkovsky is to be paid a compensation for moral damages in an amount of 10,000 euros," the bailiffs service said. "On December 30, 2015 at the request of the bailiffs service’s special executory procedures department Moscow’s Meshchansky court ordered the funds in question to be paid to Khodorkovsky should be subjected to foreclosure and transferred to the department’s depository account."

"On June 3, 2016 a ruble equivalent of 10,000 euros was transferred by the Justice Ministry to the account of the special executory department of the Federal Service of Court Bailiffs. The money has now been distributed and used to offset part of the debt to Russia’s federal budget," the service said.