Tag Yukos

Robert Amsterdam’s new client

​I learned of Robert Amsterdam when he was representing Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos as their international lawyer. Amsterdam’s relentless criticism of Russia’s legal system, which he witnessed in action at the first Yukos trial in 2003-4, was spot on but…

A huge victory for the Kremlin, apparently

The Hague district court has annulled the 2014 ruling of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which awarded $50 billion to former Yukos shareholders (Mikhail Khodorkovsky not being one of them) as compensation for the expropriation by Russian authorities. The reason for…

One more judicial smear job?

The latest, largely anticipated, turn in the story: Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky says he has been formally accused in a criminal case that, according to associates, involves the 1998 killing of a Siberian mayor that President Vladimir Putin has previously suggested…

An interesting coincidence

The permanent court of arbitration in the Hague has ruled that Russia is to pay $50 billion in damages in the Yukos case. The company that gobbled up most of Yukos’ assets is Rosneft but the defendant in the case…

The people are silent

A while ago, Mike Pechar asked me to comment on the mood of common Russians regarding the YUKOS-Khodorkovsky affair. When I do not reply to a request like that, it surely means I cannot do it right away and need…

YUKOS update

American Named to Head Russian Oil Giant Mikhail Khodorkovsky resigned as CEO of YUKOS, Russia’s top oil company. Semyon Kukes, a Soviet-born US citizen who made a successful career with Amoco and went on to manage TNK, the Russian oil…

News from the Russian front, again

Alexandr Voloshin, Putin’s chief of staff, resigns over his opposition to Khodorkovsky’s arrest. Putin meets with top investment bankers based in Moscow. Global Markets Recoil at Russian Oil-Stock Seizure. Excuse me? Global markets? The Russian market is going down the…

[Yukos stake seized]

…Russian Prosecutors Seize Yukos Stake. So is this the apex of the witch hunt? Or just an episode in a saga? More likely one in a succession of future infamies. A while ago, Mike Pechar (Interested-Participant) sent me a link…