Russia will have to pay the killer $ 100 billion

Court of Arbitration in The Hague (Permanent Court of Arbitration), introduced on Monday a resolution that would allow the former owners of oil company Yukos, the Russian government to demand compensation for damage to the company as a result of its acquisition of up to $ 100 billion, writes the British newspaper Financial Times. Claim in an arbitration court in The Hague gave the company Group Menatep Limited (GML, formerly MENATEP ") represented by its chairman, Tim Osborne. The Russian government would bankrupt Yukos had violated a major international energy pact - the Energy Charter Treaty. Recall that Russia has signed but not ratified it. But, according to Osborne, Russia still has to follow its provisions. GML sued for breach of Article 45 of the Energy Charter, which protects investors from the unlawful state action, such as the confiscation of assets. "The Court without objection, that Russia is bound by the Agreement and that we are, thus, falls under his protection ... Now we have to prove that Russia seized our assets without compensation," - said Osborne. In turn, the press service noted that the court requires "careful consideration". Since it is not clear "how the agreement could be applied to Russia if he did not enter into force." Recall that a proportion of GML in the Yukos was 51%. Naturally, after Khodorkovsky's companies went bankrupt, shares GML depreciated. The main asset of YUKOS was not able to satisfy the tax claims. Therefore, it was confiscated by Russian authorities. Later, it bought at auction the state company Rosneft. GML is registered in the UK and, as noted, "RIA-Novosti, Leonid Nevzlin controlled. Nevzlin himself sentenced in absentia by a Russian court to life imprisonment for the murder. Since summer 2003 a businessman hiding from Russian justice in Israel. We really had a hard time to get a professional lawyer comment on this, as they themselves put it, "rotten" news. We managed to persuade them to express their views on this process only on condition of anonymity. According to some experts, the reasons for not ratified by Russia of the Energy Charter is, and these reasons are very good. First, recall that Russia until October of this year, publicly denied that the Energy Charter shall be applied provisionally as provided for in its Article 45, as well as in art. 23 of the Federal Constitutional Law "On international treaties of the Russian Federation." Secondly, we should not forget that the provisional application of the Energy Charter has already taken place in Kardasopulos v. Georgia (ICSID decision on Jurisdiction of July 6, 2007). In this case, the arbitrators decided that the affairs of the expropriation provisions of the Energy Charter shall apply without restrictions. Then, many commentators predicted that this precedent will determine the outcome of the case Menatep against Russia. And so it happened. Finally, the provisional application of the Energy Charter Treaty is fully consistent with article 18 of the Vienna Convention of 1969 on the law applicable to international treaties. According to this article, a signatory of the treaty but not ratified it must refrain from actions that violate the purpose of the signed contract. As you know, one of the goals of the Energy Charter - the protection of investments. Obviously, the expropriation of the assets of Yukos violates this goal, which was decisive in the question of jurisdiction of international arbitration. So Russia's prospects of this business can be quite disastrous. "It's all bullshit" - believes Head of Research IC Gallion Capital Alexander Razuvaev. "Russia does not pay - it's a matter of principle." Yukos was liquidated two years ago. The elimination of all has been done within the law. The company had large debts. Its assets were purchased at market prices, Rosneft. I would note that Ambassador absorption assets of YUKOS, Rosneft conducted IPO, that is, an initial public offering, its securities were bought by Korean companies, BP (British Petroleum Company, the second largest publicly traded oil company in the world - Ed.), the world's leading foundations. This means that the global business community has acknowledged the transaction on acquisition of assets, "Yukos" Rosneft. Therefore, I consider this news as neutral, "- says Razuvaev.