Here is a short summary of the most important points of the yukos arbitration award which former shareholders are now trying to enforce in belgium, france and other european countries. Those factual findings have been widely reported elsewhere in the extensive mainstream media. Yukos universal limited v russian federation, final award, pca case no aa 227, iic 652 2014, icgj 481 pca 2014, 18th july 2014, permanent court of arbitration pca published on by oxford university press. Yukos landmark decision on the energy charter treaty. Interim award on jurisdiction and admissibility 30 nov 2009. In early 2015, the yukos shareholders commenced their crusade to enforce the three parallel awards handed down by the pca yukos awards. In the summer of 1999, yukos reputation hit rock bottom, and disgusted foreign investors decided to divest. Landmark decision on the energy charter treaty in a landmark decision rendered on november 30, 2009, an arbitral tribunal constituted pursuant to the energy charter treaty and the uncitral arbitration rules, and sitting in the hague under the auspices of the permanent court of arbitration,1 ruled that the. Producer of about of all russian crude oil in 2002.
A challenge to that award by the russian federation in the district court in the hague in the. Further, the former yukos shareholders could, on the basis of the amsterdam court of appeals decision, file claims against rebgun and russia to. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most definitive. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page.
Russia said they would appeal the ruling in the dutch courts, criticising the seriously flawed judgement as politically biased. Pdf on jun 1, 2015, sophie nappert and others published the yukos. Yukos was acquired from the russian government by russian oligarch mikhail khodorkovskys bank menatep during the controversial loans for shares auctions of the mid 1990s. Note that article 262 ect requires an attempt by the parties to resolve their dispute amicably prior to filing a request for arbitration. Russia wins legal victory over yukos damages financial times. Jul 29, 2014 the award by a tribunal in the hague the largest ever in international arbitration is the latest chapter in a dispute that began in 2003 when russian authorities arrested yukoss. Hague court held that there was no valid arbitration agreement and. Shares in yukos could be acquired not only in russia but also on the major stock exchanges of europe and the united states yukos was considering a full floatation on the new york stock exchange.
The muchanticipated decision of the hague district court in the. Sep 04, 2014 deputy minister storchak said the award runs against the decision of the ecthr, which concluded twice that yukos committed largescale tax evasion and its management was aware of violations, that all extra tax payments required from yukos were lawful and legitimate and that yukos was not discriminated against and the actions by the russian. Sep 21, 2017 further, the former yukos shareholders could, on the basis of the amsterdam court of appeals decision, file claims against rebgun and russia to be compensated for any damages caused by rebguns. A declaration made under paragraph 2 may be, but does not have to be, motivated by an inconsistency between provisional application and something in the states domestic law. In the event, the tribunals issued awards of over 600 pages, granted. The russian federation, under the rules of the arbitration institute of the stockholm chamber of commerce a stateowned russian oil company the claimants statement of claim dated. Judith levine, assistant secretary to the tribunal. Will ruling denying recognition of yukos bankruptcy affect. Yukos capital had claimed interest on arbitration awards that were annulled by the russian courts but the amsterdam court of appeal nevertheless enforced. A traffic light shows red near the russian oil firm yukos s building in the siberian oil town of nefteygansk, july 26, 2004. A traffic light shows red near the russian oil firm yukoss building in the. The doctrine of clean hands in investment arbitration after the yukos award, 17 journal of world investments and trade 2016. The yukos interim awards on jurisdiction and admissibility.
Today, yukos files quarterly reports in accordance with u. Deputy minister storchak said the award runs against the decision of the ecthr, which concluded twice that yukos committed largescale tax evasion and its management was aware of violations, that all extra tax payments required from yukos were lawful and legitimate and that yukos was not discriminated against and the actions by the russian. The annulment of an arbitration award by a foreign jurisdiction is not a ground for refusing the enforcement of arbitration awards in france. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Although menatep did not offer the highest bid, it nevertheless won the auction.
Revival of the yukos awards against russia following the. The award became by far the largest award ever issued by an arbitral tribunal. Enforcement of arbitration awards in france aceris law. On 20 april 2016, the district court in the hague the district court set aside six arbitral awards rendered by a threemember arbitral tribunal in a dispute between former shareholders of yukos and the russian federation. This can be explained by the fact that menatep also oversaw the bidding process and that the highest. Yukos commented on its web site that, we can only assume that this action against him is a direct result of his accepting a position to work to protect yukos oil company and its legitimate stakeholders.
Yukos project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. Yukos shareholders aim to reinstate arbitral awards against. Diana bentley of lexis nexis interviewed yaraslau kryvoi. Preliminary award investment arbitration yukos renta 4. Yukos and russia in april 2007, the claimants, former shareholders of the nowdefunct russian oil and gas giant, yukos, commenced their claims against the russian federation at the pca. Four years later, the publicly traded yukos had overtaken lukoil as russias largest oil producer and held reserves comparable in size to those of exxon. The yukos awards had already been annuled in april 2016 by the. The russian federation argues yes and applied in november 2014 to the district court of the hague to set aside the socalled yukos awards. Against russia following the decision of 18 february by. During the hearing in court, both the tax court and the russian tax authorities referred to the documents included in the ordered file, the document in question being shown to the representatives of yukos oil.
There is no necessary link between paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 45. The award by a tribunal in the hague the largest ever in international arbitration is the latest chapter in a dispute that began in 2003 when russian authorities arrested yukoss. The arbitral wards are available on the website of permanent court of arbitration. Download fulltext pdf download fulltext pdf state of confusion. Yukos universal limited isle of man and the russian federation interim award on jurisdiction and admissibility 30 november 2009 tribunal l. Former yukos majority shareholders focus on the hague to. Yukos universal limited v russian federation, final award. Between 1996 and 2003 yukos became one of the biggest and most. Russia are several international court and arbitral cases seeking compensation from the government of russia to the former shareholders of yukos based on the claim that russian courts were not acting in good faith in launching tax evasion criminal proceedings against yukos, which led to the bankruptcy of the company the yukos oil companys former shareholders and. Avoiding time bar for enforcing international arbitral awards lawrence w. Amsterdam court of appeals denies recognition of yukos. Nov 30, 2009 yukos universal limited isle of man and the russian federation interim award on jurisdiction and admissibility 30 november 2009 tribunal l.
Appeal and other enforcement proceedings the yukos shareholders have confirmed that they will be exercising their right of appeal to the court of appeal in the hague. Court of appeal in the hague overturns district court decision and. Today at the hague court of appeal, the former majority shareholders of yukos will argue that the arbitral awards ordering the russian. Having failed to do within the prescribed three months, they filed their notices of arbitration in february. It must be recalled that the russian federation signed the ect on 17. Newman and david zaslowsky the statute of limitations for enforcing international arbitration awards in the united states is shorter than that for enforcing judgments. Russia sues yukos vehicle in bid to claim arbitration award. The pca arbitrations were launched on 3 and 14 february 2005 after formally notifying the russian government of the intention to file a claim in arbitration on 2. Yukos awards annulment by the hague district court iar. In november 2014, russia summoned the shareholders in setting aside proceedings of the interim and final awards. Preliminary award investment arbitration yukos renta 4 russian federation stockholm author. Can the unsuccessful party challenge an arbitral award on the basis that an arbitral secretary was substantially involved. As a result, they said russia had renounced the right to. Yukos was the envy of khodorkovskys peers and many of his contemporaries began plotting the yukosisation of their own companies.
Newman and david zaslowsky, new york law journal october 1, 2014 lawrence w. Sep 15, 2017 further, the former yukos shareholders could, on the basis of the amsterdam court of appeals decision, file claims against rebgun and russia to be compensated for any damages caused by rebguns. In april 2016, the district court in the hague set aside the awards due to the absence of a valid arbitration agreement russian federation v veteran petroleum limited, yukos universal limited and hulley enterprises. The substantial involvement of arbitral secretaries. The following month, it was reported that some individuals established themselves as the new management of yukos. Jun 19, 2015 the yukos shareholders will have to chase various russian assets abroad against which they could enforce the award. Are there any lessons to be learnt in the arbitration community from this case and, in particular, in relation to arbitration against state entities. Accordingly, claimants delivered to the russian president a notification of claims on november 2, 2004 and sought to settle the dispute amicably. Historic award in the yukos majority shareholders arbitration. At the same time, russia brought proceedings before the district court.