MOSCOW, July 28 (RIA Novosti) - Samaraneftegaz, a subsidiary of Russia’s Rosneft, that the company should not execute the decision of the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking to recover $185.9 million payable to the Luxembourg-based Yukos Capital, the Arbitration Court of Samara Region told RIA Novosti Monday.
The dispute arose out of the 2004 contracts, under which the Luxembourg company Yukos Capital, controlled by former Yukos managers, provided Samaraneftegaz, a subsidiary of Yukos until 2007, with loans totaling 2,4 billion rubles ($69 million).
Yukos Capital in 2006 filed a debt claim pursuant to these contracts with the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC ICA, Paris). In 2007 the ICC Arbitration Court sustained the claim, but Samaraneftegaz refused to execute the decision of the arbitration voluntarily.
In 2010, Yukos Capital appealed to the Court of Arbitration of the Samara region, with a statement on recognition and enforcement of the ICC Arbitration Court ruling. In 2011 the Samara region Arbitration Court rejected the claim, citing the fact that in the ICC proceedings violated the Russian company’s right to legal defense, and the decision itself runs counter to the public policy of the Russian Federation.
Yukos Capital filed a similar statement to the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York, which in October 2013 fully satisfied the lawsuit requiring Samaraneftegaz to pay the plaintiff over $185 million.
In June 2014, Samaraneftegaz turned to the regional arbitration court with a request for clarifications on the 2011 ruling in connection with the announcement of a US court decision in the same dispute. The clarification states that the ruling of the Samara region arbitration adopted in 2011 does not allow for the execution of the ICC decision on the territory of Russia.
Controversial loan agreements in 2004 between Samaraneftegaz and Yukos Capital were subject of separate proceedings in Russia, and four courts, including the Supreme Arbitration Court, recognized them as invalid because of the sham nature of the agreements. As established by the courts, the agreement covered the real relations between the two interdependent entities: the illegal transfer of Samaraneftegaz funds in favor of Yukos Capital and the subsequent return of these funds to Samaraneftegaz in the form of a loan.
