REUTERS
A Swedish appeal court has overturned an arbitration decision against Russia, striking a blow for its government in the ongoing fight with Yukos shareholders, according to U.K.-based magazine for litigation and arbitration professionals Commercial Dispute Resolution (CDR).
Russia has defeated a 2012 arbitral award which favored Spanish shareholders of defunct energy company Yukos, in a Swedish appeal court. In the 18 January ruling, the Svea Court of Appeal held that "the arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the claim," CDR reported.
The ruling invalidates the tribunal's 2012 decision to order the Russian government to compensate shareholder group Quasar de Valores for the seizure of Yukos' assets.
It also overturns a previous 2014 decision by the Stockholm District High Court, which upheld the arbitral decision and dismissed the jurisdictional challenge. Russia had argued that the tribunal had no authority to hear the claim under the bilateral investment treaty between Russia and Spain, according to the report.
It is not yet known whether the Spanish shareholders will try to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Sweden, according to CDR.
What impact the ruling will have on the wider Yukos dispute remains to be seen. There remains a separate Swedish litigation relating to the merits of the award itself, but the future of that case is unclear following the jurisdiction decision.
As known, Yukos was one of the world's largest oil producers, producing 20% of Russian oil and 2% of the world's supply. However, its assets were seized and sold to state-owned rival Rosneft in 2014, and the company was liquidated in 2007.
Yukos' shareholders have been seeking compensation ever since, and in 2014 won $50 billion at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, followed by a string of other legal victories. Russia appealed the arbitration court resolution on Yukos.