A dozen Yukos Oil investors are suing the Russian government in a US court for what they call the confiscation of Yukos, whose main production unit was acquired in a disputed auction last year by a state-owned oil company.
The lawsuit names the Russian state, several state-controlled companies and Viktor Khristenko, the Russian energy minister, among the defendants. It says they conspired to take the plaintiffs’ property through deceit and other illegal means without compensation.
The lawsuit seeks compensation, but doesn’t specify an amount. The auction of the Yukos production unit, Yuganskneftegaz, was ordered by the Russian government to help pay a $27.5bn back-tax levy.
It followed an 18-month crackdown against Yukos, including the arrest of its former CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who remains in a Siberian penal colony serving eight years on fraud and tax evasion convictions.