A protracted legal battle resulted in an international tribunal ordering the Kremlin to pay $50 billion to shareholders of the former oil giant Yukos. The ruling, which followed years of legal maneuvering and Russia's delay tactics, marked a significant victory for the claimants, identified by the initials 'HVY'.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's wealthiest businessman, built Yukos into a global enterprise after acquiring it under Boris Yeltsin. Yukos's profitability was substantial, accounting for three percent of Russia's GDP and leading to its shares being accepted for trading on the US stock market. Khodorkovsky had questioned Russia's direction under Vladimir Putin, inquiring whether the country would embrace openness and democracy or continue on an authoritarian path. His hope for a new capitalist environment was short-lived.
Within three years of Putin's rise, Khodorkovsky and his colleague Platon Lebedev faced charges of fraud and tax evasion. According to Khodorkovsky, the subsequent ten-month trial was compromised, with judges allegedly awaiting direction from the Kremlin. Both were convicted and sentenced to nine years in a Siberian labor camp.
The confiscation of Yukos and the persecution of its employees, as detailed in Martin Sixsmith's book "Suing The Kremlin," allegedly fueled a substantial national war chest for the Kremlin. The book recounts the experiences of Yukos employees, including a female lawyer arrested at dawn, charged with theft, and sentenced to seven years in a maximum-security prison, separated from her child. Another lawyer, who suffered from HIV, was reportedly denied treatment until he testified against Khodorkovsky, a refusal that led to his death from AIDS at age 39.
An international team of lawyers pursued redress for Yukos shareholders. In 2014, after six years of Russia's delaying tactics, the tribunal issued three final awards in favor of HVY, demanding $50 billion in compensation. However, the Kremlin has not voluntarily paid any of the awarded sum. Efforts to recoup the money have involved seizing Russian assets globally, a complex and ongoing process described as an attempt to gain "international satisfaction" by recovering "every single penny."