MOSCOW, January 14 (RIA Novosti) – A US court has ordered a subsidiary of Russian state-owned oil monolith Rosneft to turn over assets to the United States in order to pay $186 million to a company linked to bankrupt oil giant Yukos, according to a copy of the judgment.
Samaraneftefgaz, controlled by Rosneft, must either settle the $186 million debt to Yukos Capital or post a bond pending resolution of an appeal, a New York court said January 9.
“The court also enjoins and restrains Samaraneftegaz from paying dividends, making loans or otherwise making further payments to its shareholder or other corporate affiliates,” the judgment said.
The case is one of series of legal actions resulting from the bankruptcy of Yukos, once Russia’s largest oil company, that followed the imprisonment of its chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other top managers on embezzlement charges that they have consistently maintained were politically motivated.
Yukos Capital, registered in Luxembourg and reportedly controlled by former Yukos shareholders, is one of a number of Yukos-affiliated companies domiciled outside Russia that have been pursuing a campaign against to re-coup losses on former Yukos assets now controlled by Rosneft.
Rosneft acquired the bulk of Yukos’ assets after the company’s breakup in a process that many allege was masterminded by the Kremlin.
Khodorkovsky was freed last month after more than a decade in prison in Russia, but has said publicly that he will not pursue the legal battle to gain compensation for Yukos assets that he once controlled.
Leonid Nevzlin, a former Yukos shareholder now living in Israel, said in an interview with Russian television channel Dozhd that during his first meeting with Khodorkovsky last week, Khodorkovsky “sharply rebuffed” an attempt to talk about the financial position of current Yukos-affiliated companies and the state of ongoing legal actions.
