Russia ordered to pay $50bn to former Yukos shareholdersJuly 28, 2014 - 13:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A court based in the Hague has ordered Russia to pay $50bn in damages to former shareholders in the defunct oil producer Yukos, BBC News reported. The Court of Arbitration said that Russia must pay the compensation after finding that it forced the company into bankruptcy. Yukos was once Russia's largest oil producer. Russia's Foreign Minister said Russia would use "all available legal possibilities to defend its position." The claim was filed by a subsidiary for the financial holding company GML, once the biggest shareholder in Yukos Oil Co. GML Executive Director Tim Osborne said: "The majority shareholders of Yukos Oil were left without compensation for the loss of their investment when Russia illegally expropriated Yukos. It is a major step forward for the majority shareholders, who have been battling for over 10 years for this decision." In addition to forcing the company into bankruptcy, Russia also sold Yukos' assets to state-owned businesses for political purposes, according to the claimant's lawyer Emmanuel Gaillard. Yukos was formerly controlled by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was at one point Russia's richest man. Khodorkovsky had built Yukos into Russia's largest investor-owned oil company after the fall of the Soviet Union. The state-owned Rosneft bought the bulk of Yukos assets though auctions after the company was declared bankrupt. It says all the deals were legal. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. |