Human rights court condemns Russia over collapse of Yukos

Evening Standard

Fresh concerns about the perils of doing business in Russia erupted today when the European Court of Human Rights condemned the Kremlin for its role in bringing about the collapse of oil giant Yukos.

Judges ruled that Russia’s government violated the rights of the oil major – once the biggest in Russia – which was forced into bankruptcy over a multi-billion-dollar tax claim after its boss, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was arrested in 2003.

Supporters of Khodorkovsky, who was jailed for nine years after being found guilty of six charges including tax evasion and remains in prison, claim he was the victim of a campaign by then-President Vladimir Putin to destroy a tycoon seen as a threat to his rule.

Yukos’ former management, which is seeking some $100 billion (£63.64 billion) in damages for former shareholders, will celebrate the ECHR’s verdict, which said Russian authorities acted unfairly in its punishment of Yukos, and didn’t give the company’s executives enough time to prepare their defence.

The ECHR has repeatedly found Russia in violation of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, and works on more cases involving it than any other country.

BP is the latest international company to face high-profile struggles in Russia.

Bailiffs raided its Moscow offices last month over a legal case relating to its failed £10 billion Arctic exploration deal with state-controlled oil giant Rosneft.

Meanwhile, the 2009 death in custody of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer working in Russia for a London investment fund who blew the whistle on the biggest tax fraud in Russia’s history, continues to cloud the country’s reputation abroad. займ на карту онлайн займ https://zp-pdl.com/get-a-next-business-day-payday-loan.php https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php быстрые займы онлайн