MOSCOW--Russian state-controlled energy group OAO Rosneft has
settled all outstanding litigation with former minority
shareholders of Yukos whose main assets it took over in 2007 after
the oil giant was bankrupted by the Kremlin.
The settlement, which Rosneft said on Wednesday involved no
monetary or other payments by Rosneft or its subsidiaries, is the
culmination of years of legal disputes over Yukos assets outside of
Russia fought in more than six jurisdictions, including the U.S.,
the Netherlands and Ireland.
Other larger claims against the Russian government, which
international courts have ordered to pay billions to former
shareholders, are unaffected by the settlement.
Yukos was once Russia's largest oil company before its main
shareholder and Chief Executive, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was arrested
and charged with fraud and tax evasion. Mr. Khodorkovsky, released
from prison in 2013, said the charges were politically motivated.
Yukos was hit with tens of billions of dollars in back-tax
claims.
Yukos's main assets were then sold off to Rosneft in state-run
bankruptcy auctions which have been challenged in western courts.
Mr. Khodorkovsky served more than 10 years in jail before his
release. He gave up his stake in Yukos in 2004.
The two Dutch foundations representing former Yukos minority
shareholders have agreed with Rosneft to end all legal proceedings
against each other in all jurisdictions, Rosneft and a
representative of the Yukos shareholders said in separate
statements Wednesday.
A representative of the Dutch foundations said the agreement
gave them "certainty of ownership of important structures and
assets," essentially allowing them to distribute assets, including
cash, to former minority shareholders numbering some 55,000.
Litigation by another Russian company is "the only remaining
litigation blocking a potential distribution," according to the
Yukos shareholders' statement.
Yukos management set up the offshore structures as Russian
authorities raised pressure on the company and froze its Russian
accounts. The structures now control up to $2 billion in assets,
which had been claimed by Rosneft. Yukos had been seeking to
collect a further $3 billion in debts it claimed were owned by
Rosneft. The Russian state giant had fought all efforts to collect
those debts, however, and litigation was expected to continue for
years.
The settlement doesn't affect a case brought by the Dutch
foundations against the Russian government in the European Court of
Human Rights, which awarded EUR1.87 billion ($2.02 billion) in
compensation last year.
Another international court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration
in The Hague, ruled last year that Russia owes $50 billion to GML
Ltd., the Gibraltar-registered vehicle formerly known as Menatep,
through which Mr. Khodorkovsky and his colleagues held their
controlling stake.
Write to James Marson at james.marson@wsj.com
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