"Group Menatep Limited has brought its suit to the London-based international court of arbitration with a view to exacting overdue $655 million from $1.6 billion worth of credit granted by the YUKOS oil company in September 2003 and underwritten by Yuganskneftegaz which had been YUKOS 100-percent subsidiary until December 2004," reports London's Menatep office.
In December 2004, Yuganskneftegaz which was the basic oil-extracting asset of YUKOS, was sold by auction to the Russian state oil company Rosneft.
"The action was brought in accordance with the procedure of such dispute settlement, spelt out in the guarantee given by Yugansneftegaz," said Menatep.
Menatep managing director Tim Osborn explained that the prosecution is developing in accordance with our activities to obtain from the Russian Federaiton, as agreed under the energy charter treaty, a compensation for illegitimate expropriation of our investment in YUKOS.
On February 9 this year, London's Menatep office confirmed that the Group demanded legal proceedings to exact from Russia a billions-worth compensation for 'the confiscation of investment'.
"Group Menatep has asked for the minimum of $28.3 billion in compensation, stemming from the premise that the Russian Federation has failed to protect the company's investment in Russia and expropriated this investment," reports the Menatep office.
Plaintiffs in the case are Menatep subsidiaries: Hulley Enterprises Limited and Yukos Universal Limited, which own 51 percent of the YUKOS shares.
