The Amsterdam Court of Appeal has pushed the ruling date in the Yukos oil company case from February 13 to February 20, 2024. The adjustment came in a brief update from court press secretary Melissa Zijlstra, reported by RIA News.
Earlier, presiding judge Vanner Los had indicated that the decision would be issued on February 13. Zijlstra later announced the timeline had shifted to February 20.
Back in 2014, an arbitration panel in The Hague concluded that the Russian Federation orchestrated the collapse of YUKOS and awarded nearly $50 billion in damages to three shareholder corporations. Attempts to recover these funds spread across courts in the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands. When penalties are included, the total rose to around $57 billion.
In May 2020, Russia filed a complaint with the Dutch Supreme Court seeking to annul the order to pay $57 billion to former Yukos shareholders. The Supreme Court overturned that decision in November 2021 and sent the case back to the Amsterdam Court of Appeal for fresh consideration.
A source within the Russian government commented on the situation, expressing the hope for a decision that would favor Russia.
Separately, there was discussion tied to an International Court of Justice ruling regarding Ukraine, noted by observers at the time.
There had been a previous attempt to confiscate Khodorkovsky’s house in the Moscow region, which has been described as being among measures targeting individuals labeled as foreign agents by the Russian Federation.