100 Countries
GML initiated its case in 2005 under the Energy Charter Treaty, an international agreement that in part regulates investments in the energy industry. Russia signed but never ratified the treaty. The Hague tribunal ruled in 2009 that it would hear the case.
The Yukos plaintiffs will have the right to go to arbitration courts in about 100 countries that are party to the 1958 New York Convention to enforce the ruling, according to Gus Van Harten, a professor specializing in arbitration at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School in Canada.
Because it will be hard to seize Russian government assets, which are mostly protected by diplomatic immunity, state companies such as Rosneft and Gazprom would be an easier target, he said.
Claudia Annacker, a partner with U.S. law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton who has been representing Russia in the Yukos lawsuit, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.
Putin Opponents
Putin is confronting mounting international pressure after the downing of a Malaysian passenger jet in eastern Ukraine that killed 298 passengers and crew. The Obama administration has accused pro-Moscow rebels of shooting the plane down with a Russian-supplied launcher. They deny involvement, and Russia is pointing the finger at Ukraine.
Putin has said his opponents are using the crash for “selfish political gains.” The EU last week warned that it may restrict the country’s access to capital markets and sensitive energy and defense technologies. The bloc is considering banning European purchases of bonds or shares sold by Russia’s state- owned banks, according to a proposal presented to the 28 member states.
The European Court of Human Rights will decide this week on a $38 billion claim for “just satisfaction” filed by ex-Yukos management that would benefit all former shareholders, Claire Davidson, a spokeswoman for the former managers, said by phone today.