“On May 15, 2020, the Russian Federation filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, in which it demands the annulment of the decision of the Hague Court of Appeal,” the statement said.
As noted in the department, the Russian side is convinced that the findings of the appeal court are unlawful and not justified.
Russia is sure that the court neglected the facts of the plaintiffs violating anti-corruption and “anti-laundering” regulation.
“The control over the company's assets was obtained by Yukos ex-shareholders through a proven conspiracy, fictitious bidding and bribery of officials responsible for its privatization,” the statement said.
When administering the former owners to Yukos, the Ministry of Justice pointed out that a systematic tax evasion, illegal withdrawal of assets abroad, money laundering and other illegal actions were allowed.
“The plaintiffs, having“ dirty hands ”, cannot be recognized as bona fide investors in the sense of the Energy Charter Treaty to which they refer,” the department added.
They also noted that during the arbitration, the plaintiff companies misled the arbitrators regarding the ultimate beneficiaries of the three shell companies that filed lawsuits against Russia.
The ministry emphasized that the decision of the Hague court was inconsistent with the position of the European Court of Human Rights, which "repeatedly rejected the accusations" against Russia of the "political motivation" and "repressive nature" of tax measures taken against Yukos.
In February, the Hague Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the district court, which, in turn, overturned the decision to recover money from Russia in the Yukos case.
As noted in the Kremlin, Russia analyzes the court’s decision in terms of defense and contestation.
Russian lawyers indicated that those who claimed compensation in the Yukos case had previously won at the stages of lawsuits and arbitration proceedings, but later these decisions were quashed by the state court.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the decision of the Hague court a politically engaged act.
More details in the material RT.