Hague district court ruling does not mean automatic release of Russian real estate assets abroad, but creates legal basis for it - Ministry of Justice
MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax) - The ruling of a district court in the Hague invalidating the $50-billion award endorsed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague to the benefit of former Yukos shareholders will not automatically cancel the seizures of Russia's real estate abroad but will give legal grounds to the demands for their cancellation, the Russian Ministry of Justice press service told Interfax on Wednesday.
"The ruling in itself does not lift any seizures, either of any real estate or accounts, but creates unconditional grounds for seeking the cancellation of the freezing orders, first of all, in France and Belgium," the ministry's press service said.
"This decision gives grounds for a demand to reverse the judgments on the recognition and enforcement [of the arbitral award] in those countries where an exequatur has been handed out already [France, Belgium], while making the arbitral award virtually unenforceable in the countries where the proceedings haven't yet started," it said.
The ruling of the District Court in the Hague "can affect seriously the position of the arbitrators in the so-called second wave of litigations [Luxtona, Yukos Capital] opened on claims continually based on the Energy Charter Treaty", according the ministry.
The arbitrators have yet to decide whether the arbitral panels have jurisdiction to rule in these cases.