Dutch court denies Russia's appeal against $50 bln Yukos payout

A lower Dutch court dismissed the penalty in 2016, only to see it reimposed on appeal. Russia then took the case to the Dutch Supreme Court, which in 2021 referred it back to a lower court, to consider whether Russia's claim that shareholders provided false evidence was wrongly rejected.

A Dutch court on Tuesday denied an appeal by Russia against a $50 billion arbitration award it was ordered to pay to the former shareholders of now-defunct oil producer Yukos in 2014.

The ruling came after years of legal wrangling in Dutch courts following the original arbitration tribunal ruling, that found Moscow had violated its international obligations by taking actions designed to bankrupt Yukos, formerly Russia's largest oil company. A lower Dutch court dismissed the penalty in 2016, only to see it reimposed on appeal.

Russia then took the case to the Dutch Supreme Court, which in 2021 referred it back to a lower court, to consider whether Russia's claim that shareholders provided false evidence was wrongly rejected. The Amsterdam appeals court on Tuesday dismissed this claim, saying Russia had brought it too late.

Even if the claim was considered, it would not have changed the verdict on the arbitration award, the appeals court said. Yukos collapsed in 2006 after oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky fell out with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the government began demanding billions of dollars in alleged back taxes that resulted in Yukos ultimately being seized by the state.

Exiled billionaire Khodorkovsky spent 10 years in prison after being convicted of tax evasion and fraud, charges he denied, and now lives in London. He is not a party to the case. London's High Court last year denied a claim by Russia to state immunity meant to avoid enforcement of the payment.