Former majority shareholder of Yukos oil company says Russia ordered to pay over $50 billion

LONDON – The former majority shareholder in Yukos Oil Company says it has won in excess of $50 billion in a court ruling against Russia.

One of the largest arbitration cases ever, the claim was filed by a subsidiary for GML Ltd., formerly Group Menetap Ltd., a financial holding company that was once the biggest shareholder in Yukos.

It sought $103.5 billion from Russia as compensation for the expropriation of Yukos.

Former Chief Executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky had built Yukos into Russia's largest investor-owned oil company after the unraveling of the Soviet Union.

GML says the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that the Russian Federation sought to bankrupt Yukos and appropriate its assets and that it was determined to do whatever was necessary to achieve this purpose.