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Former Yukos shareholders in the recovery of $ 57 billion from Russia received the rights to the brands of Russian vodka Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya in the Netherlands. Brands may be sold at public auction in September.

Former shareholders of the Yukos oil company received rights to the brands of vodka Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya in the jurisdiction of the Netherlands, a spokesman for ex-shareholders told Reuters. Russian authorities were notified of a Dutch court decision last week, the agency said.

Russian vodka brands became the goal of YUKOS shareholders because Russia itself proved in court the state ownership of brands. In the case of other foreign assets, Russia disputed the claims, saying that they belong to individual Russians or are under diplomatic protection. In January, Russia won the fight for Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya with billionaire Yuri Shefler. The Netherlands Supreme Court ruled that the rights to the brands belong to Russia, and not to the billionaire group SPI Group. Brands may be sold at a public auction in September.

The federal state-owned enterprise Soyuzplodoimport, which owns the rights to brands of Russian vodka, considers the arrest in Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) unlawful, its representative said. “The company intends to appeal this decision and is confident that the arrest of trademarks will be canceled in court,” he said.

Trademarks were transferred to the company's former shareholders as part of a recovery of $ 57 billion from Russia, Reuters notes.



In February, The Hague Court of Appeal ordered Russia to pay $ 50 billion to former Yukos shareholders. The court upheld the decision of the Hague arbitration of July 18, 2014, which ordered Russia to compensate the plaintiffs for damage caused to the actions of the state. The Russian Foreign Ministry called this decision "politically biased." The head of the International Center for Legal Protection, Andrei Kondakov, told Forbes that Russia would appeal the decision. The Ministry of Justice also announced its intention to challenge the decision of the appellate court in the Netherlands Supreme Court.

In the summer of 2014, International Arbitration in The Hague (arbitration court) ruled that in the early 2000s the Russian side launched a full-scale attack on Yukos and its beneficiaries. According to the court, the goal was to achieve bankruptcy of the oil company and appropriation of its assets. The plaintiff in the case were three offshore structures - Hulley Enterprises, Yukos Universal and Veteran Petroleum,   part of Group Menatep Limited. GML represents the interests of former Yukos shareholders Leonid Nevzlin, Vladimir Dubov and others. The arbitration tribunal ruled that Russia was supposed to pay $ 50 billion compensation to Yukos ex-shareholders for the expropriation of the company.

After that, France and Belgium began to seize Russian assets abroad.  Russia secured the annulment of the arbitration court decision in the Hague District Court. Then, the former Yukos shareholders appealed to The Hague Court of Appeal to annul the decision of the lower Hague district court, demanding   the arbitration decisions on payment of $ 50 billion to  be reinstated. A new round of litigation in the suit of the former Yukos shareholders against Russia began in September of the  last year.