20171017仲裁早新闻

 尤科斯原股东放弃执行俄罗斯在法国的财产

尤科斯公司（已解散的俄罗斯石油巨头）的主要股东于10月9日宣布，因其在法国的赔偿遭遇了一系列法律挫折，他们将放弃努力不再查封有利可图的俄罗斯在法国的资产。

法国查封的俄罗斯国有资产价值高达数亿欧元，其中包括在巴黎新建的东正教大教堂以及莫斯科在欧洲新闻电视频道持有的股权（依据国际法庭在2014年作出的一份判决）。

一个案件中，乌克兰卫星公司Arianespace欠俄罗斯宇航局的银行账户以及约3亿欧元债务的也被查封，该案件加剧了已经被乌克兰冲突破坏的外交关。

尤科斯公司曾是俄罗斯最大的石油公司，但自其总裁Mikhail Khodorkovsky （克里姆林宫批评家及前俄罗斯首富）于2003年被捕入狱后，该公司解体。

2014年，国际常设仲裁法庭（PCA）裁定，俄罗斯须向尤科斯前股东支付500亿美元的损害赔偿。

莫斯科拒绝支付赔偿款，这促使申请人在包括英国、法国和美国在内的几个国家试图查封俄罗斯的海外资产。

一名法国法官认为，该裁决在法国适用，能够有效地授权GML（尤科斯的大股东）接管俄罗斯资产作为一种补偿形式。

但愤怒的莫斯科发动了一次法律行动使查封行为被裁定无效，并从那时起夺回了对大部分资产的控制权。

GML，这家注册在直布罗陀的公司召集了主要股东，最终于10月10日宣布放弃在法国的战斗。

发言人Jonathan Hill告诉法新社，GML试图纳入索赔补偿的资产价值约8亿欧元，只有3000万的资产“仍在我们手中”，其补充道：“在法国执行仲裁裁决不再具有经济效率。”

这个围绕尤科斯解体的复杂且涉及多国的法律传奇还远未结束。

去年4月，在莫斯科的一次重大胜利中，某荷兰地方法院裁定，总部设在海牙的国际常设仲裁法庭当初并没有作出赔偿裁决的法律权限。

荷兰上诉法院将于明年就地方法院的裁定是否有效作出裁定。

 【英文版】

 Yukos shareholders give upfight for Russia's French assets

Posted on 10October 2017 - 09:01pm
Last updated on 10 October 2017 - 09:50pm

PARIS:A group of major shareholders in dismantled Russian oil giant Yukos announced Monday they were giving up their efforts to seize lucrative state assets as compensation in France following a series of legal setbacks.

France seized Russian state assets worth several hundred million euros — including the plot of land hosting a huge new Orthodox cathedral in Paris and Moscow's stake in the Euronews TV channel— after a 2014 international court ruling.

Bank accounts and some €300 million(about RM1.5 billion) of debt owed by satellite company Ariane space to the Russian space agency were also seized in a case that exacerbated diplomaticties already damaged by the Ukraine conflict.

Yukos was once Russia's biggest oil company but was broken up after its former owner, Kremlin critic and ex-tycoon,Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested in 2003.

The international Permanent Courtof Arbitration (PCA) in 2014 awarded a record US$50 billion (RM253.17 billion) in damages to former Yukos shareholders, ruling that the Kremlin forced the company's collapse in a bid to crush Khordokovsky.

Moscow refused to pay out, prompting the claimants to seek the seizure of Russian assets abroad in several countries including Britain, France and the United States.

A French judge found that the ruling applied in France, effectively authorising GML to take over assets there as a form of compensation.

But a furious Moscow launched alegal campaign to have the seizures ruled invalid, and has since managed to winback control of most of the assets.

GML, the Gibraltar-based company which brings together the main shareholders, said it was finally giving up the fight on Tuesday.

Of assets worth some €800 million that GML intended to claim as compensation, only 30 million were "still inour hands," spokesman Jonathan Hill told AFP.

"It is no longer economically efficient to pursue the execution of the arbitration rulings in France,"he added.

The complex, multi-country legal saga surrounding the downfall of Yukos is far from over.

In a major victory for Moscow in April last year, a Dutch district court ruled that the Hague-based PCA did not have the legal authority to award the compensation in the first place.

A Dutch appeals court is due to rule next year on whether that second ruling is valid. — AFP

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