MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - Group Menatep Limited (GML), the Gibraltar-based financial holding established by former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is set to launch legal action in order to force Russia to pay a $50 billion compensation claim for assets of the now-defunct Yukos energy giant, the company's Director Tim Osborne told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
In late July, The Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled out the possibility of a claim of almost $50 billion to three former Yukos shareholder companies. GML's subsidiaries Hulley Enterprises and Yukos Universal Limited, which used to own 51 percent of Yukos, are to receive $39.9 and $1.85 billion respectively, while the company's pension fund Veteran Petroleum Ltd is to get $8.2 billion.
Asked when the proceedings to seek an enforcement of The Hague Arbitration Court ruling will start, Osborne said "In the coming weeks."
The GML head also noted that the Russian parliament's decision to adopt a law to compensate companies and individuals affected by arbitrary rulings of foreign courts is unlikely to affect the process.
"I certainly do not believe it would discourage domestic courts in New York Convention [on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards] countries from allowing the proper implementation of that Convention and the enforcement of our ECT [Energy Charter Treaty] Award," Osborne stated.
Yukos, a defunct oil company previously controlled by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was declared bankrupt by a Moscow court of arbitration back in 2006.
Yukos managers contended that the Russian government had illegally forced the oil company out of business, which allowed Rosneft to snap up its assets and become the country's largest oil producer.
Yukos founder Khodorkovsky spent a decade in prison for fraud and tax evasion until he was pardoned in December 2013.
