Yukos shareholders seize Russia vodka assets in the Netherlands
[AMSTERDAM] Shareholders in the now defunct Russian oil giant Yukos have seized Netherlands-based assets of two well-known vodka brands controlled by the Russian state in their most recent legal move to obtain US$57 billion in damages from Moscow, they said on Monday.
The seizure of the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya vodka trademark rights via a Dutch court took place on May 7, a spokesperson for shareholders said on Monday, adding that the Russian state was informed of the move last week.
However, an official in Moscow said neither the Foreign Ministry or the Russian Embassy in the Netherlands had been informed.
"There was no official notification of this decision," Andrey Kondakov, head of the International Legal Defense Center which represents Moscow's interests in the case, was quoted by state-controlled Russian news agency TASS as saying on Monday.
A Dutch appeals court on Feb 18 overturned the annulment of a US$50 billion award to Yukos shareholders, a surprise ruling 13 years after the assets came under control of the Kremlin.
The sum due has increased to US$57 billion because of additional penalty fees, the spokesperson said.
GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Last Friday, Russia's Justice Ministry lodged an appeal at the Dutch Supreme Court to contest the decision.
Yukos Oil went bankrupt 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 ultimately resulted in its being expropriated by the state.
Most of Yukos' assets were absorbed by the Kremlin's flagship oil producer Rosneft, and its former owners have for years been trying to recover their possessions.
Legal proceedings seeking damages have been brought in the Netherlands by the subsidiaries of GML, formerly known as Group Menatep, which held around 70 per cent of shares in Yukos.
In a separate case, The Dutch Supreme Court in January upheld a lower court finding that stripped the rights to the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya vodka brand in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (Benelux) from SPI Group's Spirits International and awarded them to Russian state-owned Sojuzplodoimport.
Those assets have now been seized in the Netherlands, the spokesperson said on Monday.
The case dates back to a July 2014 ruling by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration which ordered Moscow to pay damages to Yukos shareholders, saying the Kermlin had manipulated the legal system to bankrupt the company and take Mr Khodorkovsky's assets.
REUTERS
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Consumer & Healthcare
Lululemon to shutter Washington distribution center, lay off 128 employees
Gazelle Ventures makes cash offer for No Signboard shares at S$0.0021 apiece
P&G raises annual core profit forecast on resilient demand, price hikes
Cordlife calls for trading halt after shares sink to all-time low, pending announcement
Marina Bay Sands Q1 profit surges 51.5% to US$597 million on tourism boom
Swiss watch exports plunge as China and Hong Kong demand dries up