Yuganskneftegaz ( Russian : Юганскнефтегаз ) is a wholly integrated subsidiary of Rosneft that owns and operates the second largest oil production complex in Russia . It was formerly the most important production subsidiary of Yukos , but was expropriated by the Russian government and given to Rosneft, a state-owned company.
110-445: Yuganskneftegaz began operations in 1964, and saw significant upgrades in the 1990s that are responsible for bringing its production to their current levels. Yuganskneftegaz was formerly owned by Yukos , which was broken up and its principal assets sold off to satisfy tax debts allegedly totaling $ 28 billion. On 19 December 2004, Yuganskneftegaz was sold at a state-run auction, ostensibly to satisfy tax debts. The winning, and sole, bidder,
220-429: A Forbes profile, March 2002 The initial period of "oligarchic privatization" was characterized by ruthlessness and bloodshed, with those having power sometimes compared to 19th century robber barons , and Yukos was no exception. For example, the former Security Chief of Yukos, Alexei Pichugin , was convicted on multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, including (along with Yukos 1st Vice President Nevzlin)
330-578: A motion by the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development a year prior, the Assembly passed a resolution and an accompanying recommendation on children's right to physical integrity. These documents argued that while PACE had addressed forms of child abuse such as sexual violence and domestic violence, it was also necessary to address what they called "non-medically justified violations of children's physical integrity which may have
440-404: A $ 500m dividend, in 2002 – $ 700m and in 2003 the planned dividend payout was estimated at $ 3 billion. Its share prices were growing quickly: in 2001 by 191%, in 2001 by 81.5%. It started international expansion, purchasing 49% shares of Transpetrol (Slovakia) and 53% shares of Mazeikiu Nafta (Lithuania). In 2002 four companies – Yukos, Lukoil, TNK and Sibneft – established a consortium to build
550-694: A December 2004 Houston , Texas court filing, the CFO resides in Houston. According to a company spokeswoman the CEO resided in London, UK as of December 2004. Executives Mikhail Brudno and Vladimir Dubov fled to Israel in 2003, and were seen on February 2, 2005 in Washington, D.C. at an official function for President George W. Bush . Both men were cited in an international arrest warrant regarding their involvement in
660-475: A barrel, and great political and economic uncertainty, it was "unclear" at the time of the auction how much a company like Yukos was "actually worth", and concludes that perhaps the auctions were not wildly mispriced within the context, but regardless, they were a public relations disaster which "came to symbolize the flawed transition [of privatization] as a whole". One of the commercial banks contending for Yukos – and controversially also managing its auction –
770-613: A bid or spoke out. Shortly after the Yuganskneftegaz auction, Rosneft, Russian state-owned oil company, acquired 100% of shares in Baikalfinansgrup. The acquisition of Yuganskneftegaz significantly increased Rosneft's profits and made it one of the largest oil companies in Russia. On June 15, 2006, based on a bank deposit of US$ 4 million and its American CEO's Houston home, Yukos filed for bankruptcy protection in
880-445: A day, about 60% of Yukos total, and about 1.6% of the world total. Its main oil fields are Priobskoye, Prirazlomnoye, Mamontovskoye, Malo-Balykskoye, and Salymskoye. According to the annual audit by DeGolyer and MacNaughton , as of 31 December 2006, Yuganskneftegaz' two largest fields, Priobskoye and Prirazlomnoye, contained 33% and 10.7% of Rosneft’s total proved reserves, respectively. In 2005, Yuganskneftegaz built and began operating
990-517: A flag were submitted to the Council of Europe in the early 1950s and on 25 September 1953 the Assembly officially adopted a version with fifteen stars, which represented the number of Council of Europe member states at the time. However "a difficulty arose" in the Council of Europe's ministerial body over the number of stars after West Germany objected that one was for the Saarland region, which
1100-486: A fraction of their value to state-owned oil companies. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe condemned Russia's campaign against Yukos and its owners as manufactured for political reasons and a violation of human rights. Between 2011 and 2014 several court cases were won by the former company's management and investors against Russia or against the companies that acquired Yukos assets. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that there had been unfair use of
1210-559: A government owned business, was Sergei Muravlenko (Russian: Сергей Муравленко ), the former General Director of Yuganskneftegaz and son of Viktor Muravlenko, a former head of the oil and gas sector during the Soviet regime . During 1995 and 1996, with Russia in economic difficulty , many large state-owned industrial businesses were privatized in a second round of reorganization (" Loans for shares "), in which major state assets were sold off through – and often to – Russian commercial banks in
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#17328022056681320-546: A list of three candidates nominated by each member state which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights . A 20-member committee made up of parliamentarians with legal experience – meeting in camera – interviews all candidates for judge on the Court and assesses their CVs before making recommendations to the full Assembly, which elects one judge from each shortlist in a secret vote. Judges are elected for
1430-401: A long-lasting impact on their lives". They called for a ban on the most harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation, while also calling for increased dialogue on other procedures they viewed as harmful, such as infant male circumcision, intersex medical interventions, and body piercings. While none of the above documents called for an outright ban on male circumcision, they did call for
1540-721: A member state. In the months since, the Assembly has on several occasions debated the consequences of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, including the legal consequences, and the practical support it can give to Ukraine. In October 2022, for example, it adopted a resolution declaring the Russian regime a "terrorist" one, while in January 2023 it unanimously demanded the setting up of an international criminal tribunal in The Hague to prosecute Russian and Belarusian political and military leaders who "planned, prepared, initiated or executed"
1650-401: A mere $ 310 million, and how Boris Berezovsky got Sibneft, another oil giant, worth $ 3 billion, for about $ 100 million.... [T]he government was generally unable to exercise much control. Since the state was very weak, these "New Russians" paid little or no taxes on their purchases" - Marshall Goldman , Professor of economics and associate director of Russian Studies at Harvard . "Much of
1760-528: A path towards membership for former Communist countries with its "Special Guest status", paving the way for the historic reconciliation of European nations under one roof. In two reports for the Assembly in 2006 and 2007, Swiss Senator and former Prosecutor Dick Marty revealed convincing evidence that terror suspects were being transported to, held and tortured in CIA-run "secret prisons" on European soil. The evidence in his first report in 2006 – gathered with
1870-483: A period of nine years and may not be re-elected. Although the European Convention does not, in itself, require member states to present a multi-sex shortlist of potential appointees, in a 2004 resolution PACE decided that it "will not consider lists of candidates where the list does not include at least one candidate of each sex" unless there are exceptional circumstances. As a result, around one-third of
1980-474: A pipeline from Western Siberia to Murmansk. In a marked change of direction which gained considerable United States coverage, the company and its owner came to be seen as a leopard that might be changing its spots and setting aside the dubious conduct previously associated with it in the early oligarch years. Yukos had five Americans on its board, and Khodorkovsky's charity " Open Russia " listed Henry Kissinger and Lord (Jacob) Rothschild as chairmen. In 2001
2090-466: A series of rigged auctions whose participants were limited to favored bidders with political connections. This acquisition of valuable state industrial enterprises for far less than their open market value also marked the emergence of a wave of Russian oligarchs – immensely wealthy Russian businessmen with powerful political connections, who held a dominant position in Russian business and politics for some time. (The first wave of wealthy individuals
2200-546: A series of rulings by the European Court of Human Rights , as well as a comprehensive US Senate report – threw the first real light on a dark chapter in US and European history in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks , kicked off a series of national probes, and helped to make torture on European soil less likely. In April 2014, after the Russian parliament's backing for the annexation of Crimea and Russo-Ukrainian War ,
2310-629: A statutory rate of 30% at the time. Yukos claims its actions were legal at the time and that the company used the same tax optimisation schemes as other Russian oil companies, such as Lukoil, TNK-BP and Sibneft. However, Yukos was the only one to be charged with tax evasion and penalised by the authorities. Yukos subsidiaries declared the oil they produced to be "oil-containing liquids" to avoid paying full taxes. A general crackdown on such tax evasion practices began with Putin's presidency, with numerous companies closing or purchasing their trading vehicles. A management presentation from December 2004 shows that
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#17328022056682420-456: A vote of 116 in favour, 62 against and 15 abstentions. As a result, the Russian delegation which included Pyotr Olegovich Tolstoy as its head, returned to PACE with its full rights after a gap of five years. In response, the Ukrainian delegation protested before the Assembly, and announced Ukraine would leave the institution. Ukraine returned to PACE in January 2020. On 25 February 2022 -
2530-427: Is now regarded as a major achievement of the Council of Europe as a whole, and it now joins others in pressing for abolition worldwide. Over the decades, the Assembly has been at the forefront of supporting democratic change in successive waves of European nations at key moments in their history, negotiating their entry into the Council of Europe "club of democracies" (as the Assembly has a veto on any new member joining
2640-629: Is strong. In 2007, this became evident when the Parliamentary Assembly voted on a report compiled by Anne Brasseur of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party on the rise of Christian creationism , bolstered by right-wing and populist parties in Eastern Europe. In 2018, an online archive of all speeches made to the Parliamentary Assembly by heads of state or government since its creation in 1949 appeared on
2750-489: Is the Assembly which is usually regarded as the "motor" of the organisation, holding governments to account on human rights issues, pressing states to maintain democratic standards, proposing fresh ideas and generating the momentum for reform. The Assembly held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, embodying at that time the hopes of many Europeans who, in the aftermath of World War II , saw European unity as
2860-454: Is yielding to an ethic of reinvesting in your business" with Khodorkovsky "leading the charge", with Yukos now having an American chief financial officer and publishing its previous three years of financial accounts in compliance with U.S. GAAP standards. It quoted Khodorkovsky as saying, "By now we understand how business is done in the West... I earn money in dividends and with the increase in
2970-484: The Council of Europe 's ministerial body to go further and to "immediately" expel Russia from the Council because of its aggression against Ukraine. It is the first time in its history that the Assembly has made such a call. As the debate was drawing to a close, the Russian authorities submitted a formal letter announcing that it was withdrawing from the Council; however, as the expulsion procedure had already begun, this
3080-518: The GRECO like all its member states is also a matter of criticism. In 2013, The New York Times reported that "some council members, notably Central Asian states and Russia, have tried to influence the organisation's parliamentary assembly with lavish gifts and trips". According to the report, said member states also hire lobbyists to fend off criticism of their human rights records. PACE members have been implicated in corruption scandals relating to
3190-481: The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict , European politicians were paid off and received lavish gifts and paid trips . In 2018, an independent investigation found "strong suspicions of corruptive conduct involving members of the Assembly" and named a multiple members as having breached the Assembly's Code of Conduct. Following a series of hearings, it sanctioned many of the members or former members mentioned in
3300-553: The Priobskoye field , another oil production plant was set up and is now operating. Notes: Yukos OJSC "Yukos Oil Company" (Russian: ОАО Нефтяна́я Компа́ния Ю́КОС , IPA: [ˈjukəs] ) was an oil and gas company based in Moscow , Russia . Yukos was acquired from the Russian government by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky 's Bank Menatep during the controversial "loans for shares" auctions of
3410-568: The "New Management" of Yukos. However, this was apparently an illegal act, as Yukos "emphatically rejected" the legitimacy of the "new management" which had Vinokurov as president. According to Yukos, these individuals were "loyal to Rosneft" and had as goal the downfall of Yukos. A Yukos lawyer, Pavel Ivlev , was accused of several crimes, after which he moved to the USA. In July 2006, one week before creditors would vote if they should file for bankruptcy, Steven Theede resigned his function as he believed
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3520-479: The Anti-Defamation League. In 2015, PACE passed a resolution on religious freedom and tolerance that referenced its previous resolution on circumcision and reiterated its view that the procedure should only be performed under appropriate medical conditions. Though some outlets reported that PACE had retracted its anti-circumcision stance, PACE clarified that it had neither cancelled nor replaced
3630-481: The Assembly also uses German and Italian as working languages. Each parliamentarian has separate earphones and a desk on which they are able to select the language which they would like to listen to. When foreign guests wish to address the Assembly in languages other than its working languages, they are invited to bring their own interpreters. The Assembly has a total of 612 members in total – 306 principal members and 306 substitutes – who are appointed or elected by
3740-534: The Assembly decided to suspend the Russian delegation's voting rights as well as the right of Russian members to be represented in the Assembly's leading bodies and to participate in election observation missions. However, the Russian delegation remained members of the Assembly. The sanction applied throughout the remainder of the 2014 session and was renewed for a full year in January 2015, lapsing in January 2016. The sanction applied only to Russian parliamentarians in PACE,
3850-410: The Assembly meet all year long to prepare reports and draft resolutions in their respective fields of expertise. The Assembly sets its own agenda, but its debates and reports are primarily focused on the Council of Europe 's three core statutory aims, defending human rights , promoting democracy and upholding the rule of law . Judges of the European Court of Human Rights are elected by PACE from
3960-415: The Assembly took the decision to make ending executions a condition of Council of Europe membership - just before a wave of central and eastern European nations joined the organisation. Today, the death penalty has been abolished in law in all 46 member states in peacetime, though some continue to allow it in time of war. Though rare calls are occasionally heard for its reintroduction, abolition continent-wide
4070-425: The Assembly's website, the fruit of the two-year project entitled "Voices of Europe". At the time of its launch, the archive comprised 263 speeches delivered over a 70-year period by some 216 Presidents, Prime Ministers, monarchs and religious leaders from 45 countries, but it continues to expand, as new speeches are added every few months. Some very early speeches by individuals considered to be "founding figures" of
4180-744: The Booster Pipeline Pumping Station (BPPS) at the Ust-Balykskoye field, six preliminary water removal units (PWRU) and two group pumping stations. In addition, it installed two electric substations and two overhead electric transmission lines stretching a total of 24 kilometres (15 mi). In 2006, Yuganskneftegaz began operating eight group pumping stations, an oil pumping station at the Prirazlomnoye field, another preliminary water removal unit, an external oil pipeline and six additional power generating stations. At
4290-570: The Council of Europe on 16 March 2022. In January 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolved to not ratify the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation, thereby preventing the Azerbaijani delegates from participating in the work of the Assembly. Parliaments with Partner for Democracy status, pledge to work towards certain basic values of the Council of Europe, and agree to occasional assessments of their progress. In return, they are able to send delegations to take part in
4400-585: The Council of Europe's parliamentary body, and Russia continued to be a full member of the organisation as a whole. In response, the Russian parliamentary delegation suspended its co-operation with PACE in June 2014, and in January 2016 – despite the lapsing of the sanctions – the Russian parliament decided not to submit its delegation's credentials for ratification, effectively leaving its seats empty. It did so again in January 2017, January 2018 and January 2019. On 25 June 2019, after an eight-hour debate which ended in
4510-482: The Court of Appeal of the Hague in 2020. From 2003 to 2004 onwards, the Russian government presented Yukos with a series of tax claims totaling US$ 27 billion (€20,1 billion). As the government froze Yukos' assets at the same time, and alternative attempts to settle by Yukos were refused, the company was unable to pay these tax demands. Between 2004 and 2007, most of Yukos's assets were seized and transferred for
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4620-534: The ECT arbitration clause violated Russian law. In February 2020, the Court of Appeal of the Hague reversed the invalidation and held that the PCA awards were valid. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe ( PACE ) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe , a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and
4730-465: The European Union began using the flag in 1986. Propositions for an anthem for Europe began almost as soon as the Council of Europe was created in 1949. "Ode to Joy" had been suggested in the 1920s by the great pioneer of European unity, Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi , and in a 1955 letter to the Council of Europe he proposed it again. However it was not until the early 1970s that
4840-497: The European institutions, even if they were not heads of state or government at the time, are also included (such as those by Winston Churchill and Robert Schuman ). Addresses by eight monarchs appear in the list (such as King Juan Carlos I of Spain , King Albert II of Belgium and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg ) as well as the speeches given by religious figures (such as Pope John Paul II ) and several leaders from countries in
4950-582: The Houston court declared that under no conceivable theory could Yukos assert domicile in the United States. On July 25, 2006, the creditors of Yukos decided to file for bankruptcy after the bankruptcy manager recommended the company be liquidated. At the time, key management included: By mid-December, 2004, all members of the board of Yukos, and most of the company's senior managers, had left Russia, some of them because of "fear of arrest" after being "summoned for questioning by prosecutors". According to
5060-716: The Investigative Body's report, either by depriving them of certain rights, or by excluding them from the Assembly's premises for life. Following the flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians in 2023, PACE adopted a motion which stated that "it regrets the fact that Members of the European Parliament have accepted and failed to declare trips to Azerbaijan, visits to the Nagorno-Karabakh region and luxury hotel stays that were organised and paid for by Azerbaijani officials." In October 2013, following
5170-467: The Middle East and North Africa (such as Shimon Peres , Yasser Arafat , Hosni Mubarak , Léopold Sédar Senghor or King Hussein of Jordan ). The full text of the speeches is given in both English and French, regardless of the original language used. The archive is searchable by country, by name, and chronologically. The official languages of the Council of Europe are English and French , but
5280-466: The Parliamentary Assembly. On 16 April 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly voted in favour of Kosovo's membership, with 131 votes in favour, 29 against, and 11 abstentions. Two representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community have been invited to participate in the deliberations of the assembly as observers without the right to vote. The Assembly has six political groups. The Presidents of
5390-569: The Qatari and Azerbaijani governments. Qatargate is an ongoing scandal, involving allegations that PACE officials, lobbyists and their families have been influenced by the governments of Qatar , Morocco and Mauritania , engaging in corruption, money laundering, and organized crime. Multiple PACE officials have been implicated in a money-laundering scheme organized by the Azerbaijani government. In exchange for (A) whiteashing Azerbaijan's poor human rights record and (B) lobbying for Azerbaijan in
5500-570: The US House of Representatives and the Council of Europe . According to a resolution of the Council of Europe, In the Western media and the Russian opposition media the high-profile arrest of Khodorkovsky is usually attributed to his activism in the Russian political process . On October 31, 2003, shortly after the arrest of the company's CEO, the Russian government froze ownership of 44% of
5610-406: The United States, estimating its assets at US$ 12.3 billion and its debts at US$ 30.8 billion, including "alleged taxes owed to the Russian government". It accused the Russian authorities of "an unprecedented campaign of illegal, discriminatory, and disproportionate tax claims escalating into raids and confiscations, culminating in intimidation and arrests". After several weeks of deliberation,
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#17328022056685720-500: The Yukos tax case. On Wednesday, April 6, 2006, the company's Executive Vice President, Vasily Aleksanyan , was arrested just six days into his new role. Yukos commented on its web site that, "We can only assume that this action against him is a direct result of his accepting a position to work to protect Yukos Oil Company and its legitimate stakeholders." The following month, it was reported that some individuals established themselves as
5830-540: The aftermath of the October 2003 arrest of its CEO. Although weak at the time of the auctions and the economic downturn of the mid-1990s , from 2000 the government under new leader Vladimir Putin grew in strength, until it became able politically to outweigh the power of the oligarchs. On October 25, 2003, Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested on charges of fraud and tax evasion. Leonid Bershidsky, founder of Russian business newspaper Vedomosti , wrote: "Any of
5940-633: The arbitrators awarding Yukos majority shareholders over US$ 50 billion in damages. US and Russian investors, representing about 15 percent and 5 percent of Yukos, respectively, lack the benefit of an investment treaty. The sole remedy of US-based investors in seeking approximately $ 12 billion in redress is to request the State Department and the Office of the United States Trade Representative to espouse
6050-465: The auction in Tver at an address where a snack bar was located, won the auction for Yukos's subsidiary Yuganskneftegas with a 260.75 billion rubles ($ 9.4 billion) bid. According to people familiar with the auction only two bidders registered for, and were present during, the auction process: Baikalfinansgrup and Gazprom 's former oil unit Gazpromneft . Accounts from the auction say that
6160-402: The auction, at which point the tax bill was "slashed". Just over a year later Yuganskneftegaz was formally valued by Rosneft at $ 56 billion. On February 7, 2006, in response to a question posed by a Spanish journalist, Russian President Vladimir Putin disclosed that Rosneft had used Baikalfinansgrup as a vehicle to acquire Yuganskneftegaz to protect itself against litigation risks. Yukos
6270-579: The best way of preventing a return to the devastation of war, a "safety net" to prevent gross human rights violations such as the horrors of The Holocaust , and a democratic bulwark against tyranny. Among the Assembly's main achievements are: Unlike the European Parliament (an institution of the European Union ), the Assembly does not have the power to create binding laws. However, it speaks on behalf of 700 million Europeans and has
6380-535: The claim to their Russian counterparts, as it is determined by the Magnitsky Act of 2012; State Department officials have reportedly raised Yukos investors' concerns at deputy prime minister level in the past. The total final award in damages announced by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 18, 2014 was some $ 50 billion. The European Court of Human Rights ruled for Russia to pay
6490-502: The company donated $ 1 million to the Library of Congress Open World Program , to aid the development of Russian leadership and rule of law , in part by funding Russian judges to visit and observe United States courts. In a 2002 profile, Forbes described Khodorkovsky as being "vilified by the West" until quite recently, but now being seen as perhaps "the West's best friend". It stated that in Russia, "the financial free-for-all
6600-483: The company's assets, that Yukos was the target of a series of politically motivated attacks by Russian authorities that eventually led to its destruction, and that Russia had expropriated Yukos' assets in breach of the Energy Charter Treaty . The treaty does not prohibit governments seizing or nationalizing commercial assets, but requires investors to be fairly compensated. Though Russia never ratified
6710-538: The company's shares. The reason given was to prevent a group of shareholders led by Khodorkovsky from selling a large stake of the company to the US oil firm Exxon . A Yukos shareholders' meeting scheduled for December 20, 2004 was to discuss a "crisis plan." A Russian company must hold such a meeting before it can apply for bankruptcy in Russia. The Russian Government sold Yukos's main production unit, known as Yuganskneftegas , at auction on December 19, 2004 to recover some of US$ 28 billion in alleged tax debts, following
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#17328022056686820-590: The continent. The Assembly continues to elect the judges of the Court. The Assembly was at the origin of both the Flag of Europe , the twelve yellow stars on a blue background, and the Anthem of Europe , an arrangement of Ludwig van Beethoven 's Ode to Joy. Having been proposed by the Assembly, both were adopted firstly by the Council of Europe , and - several years later - by the European Union . Both are now known worldwide as symbols of Europe . Various proposals for
6930-410: The course of the next few years, became one of Russia's largest oil companies, one of the world's largest non-state oil companies, but more significantly, a leader in Russian corporate governance reform and corporate transparency , with Khodorkovsky being widely seen as a pro-democratic reformer who advocated for international co-operation and against corruption in Russia . In 2001 the company paid
7040-437: The current bench of 46 judges are women, making the Court a leader among international courts on gender balance. At its very first meeting, in the summer of 1949, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted the essential blueprint of what became the European Convention on Human Rights , selecting which rights should be protected and defining the outline of the judicial mechanism to enforce them. Its detailed proposal, with some changes,
7150-421: The day after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 - Russia's membership in the Council of Europe was suspended by the Council of Europe's ministerial body, having consulted the Assembly earlier on the same day. Suspension does not have the same legal status as full expulsion. On 15 March, following an all-day debate at an Extraordinary Session, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution calling on
7260-446: The first bid of US$ 8.6 billion came from Baikal. When the auctioneer asked Gazpromneft to offer its price, a representative of the company asked to make a telephone call and left the room. A few minutes earlier, the auctioneer had told participants that using a mobile phone or leaving the room was against the rules. When a Gazpromneft representative returned to the room, Baikal made a bid of US$ 9.3 billion. Gazpromneft never placed
7370-465: The former owners Yukos €1.87 billion ($ 2.51 billion) in compensation for unfair proceedings of the tax evasion case. Yukos is asking for $ 333 million to cover losses incurred after its accounts were frozen plus costs and interests. On 20 April 2016 the District Court of The Hague set aside the decisions of the PCA, ruling that it had no jurisdiction as provisional application of
7480-471: The full treaty, these clauses were still legally binding under both the treaty and Russian law until 2029. According to the arbitral tribunal's ruling, the primary objective of the Russian Federation was not to collect taxes but rather to bankrupt Yukos, appropriate its assets for the sole benefit of the Russian state and state-owned companies Rosneft and Gazprom , and remove Khodorkovsky from
7590-406: The government and offers exploring other ways to settle, such as payment in stages or sale of non-core assets, were refused or ignored. In July 2004, its core asset, Yuganskneftegaz – producing 60% of the company's oil and by itself as much oil as Iraq or Libya and variously valued between $ 14.7 to $ 22 billion and $ 30.4 billion – was confiscated. In December 2004, Yuganskneftegaz
7700-494: The help of investigative journalists and plane-spotters among others – suggested that a number of Council of Europe member states had permitted CIA "rendition flights" across their airspace, enabling the secret transfer of terror suspects without any legal rights. In a second report in 2007, Marty showed how two member states – Poland and Romania – had allowed "secret prisons" to be established on their territory, where torture took place. His main conclusions – subsequently confirmed in
7810-541: The late 1990s Russia was badly affected by a deepening of the economic crisis, in the course of which Bank Menatep became insolvent. "When the former banker acquired his 36% stake in Yukos... most people assumed he would cash out as soon as a rich opportunity presented itself. The surprise was that he actually had a head for the oil business. He seemed to relish the job of turning Yukos into a world-class oil company. And he has succeeded." - Bloomberg BusinessWeek, October 2003 Yukos however recovered very quickly and, in
7920-713: The legal and tax system; the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce , an established neutral body used by Russia and the West since the 1970s for trade disputes, concluded that the government's action was an " unlawful expropriation " using "illegitimate" tax bills, whose effect was intended to "destroy Yukos and gain control over its assets". An arbitral tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled unanimously upon awarding compensation of $ 50 billion for
8030-512: The loss of an appeal by the firm. Menatep , the company representing Khodorkovsky, promised to challenge the sale's legality in a number of countries, and to sue the buyer and any company helping to fund the deal. The expected buyer was the 38% Russian state owned company OAO Gazprom . Some European and American oil firms decided not to bid. On December 19, 2004, the Baikalfinansgrup , an unknown company registered several days before
8140-410: The market capitalization of my company". At the peak of its success, Yukos was producing 20% of Russian oil—about 2% of world production; in its final year before being broken up (2003–2004), Yukos pumped 1.7 million barrels of oil a day. In April 2003, Yukos agreed to a merger/takeover with Sibneft , to create the fourth largest private company in the world, although this merger became undone in
8250-573: The mid 1990s . Between 1996 and 2003, Yukos became one of the largest and most successful Russian companies, producing 20% of Russia's oil output. In the 2004 Fortune 500 , Yukos was ranked as the 359th largest company in the world. In October 2003, Khodorkovsky—by then the richest person in Russia and 16th richest person in the world—was arrested, and the company was forcibly broken up for alleged unpaid taxes shortly after and declared bankrupt in August 2006. Courts in several countries later ruled that
8360-595: The murder of Vladimir Petukhov , mayor of the Yugansk oil province in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and a vehement opponent of Yukos, on Khodorkovsky's birthday in 1998. Initially, Yukos, like most other Russian energy companies, was badly affected by the economic recession of the 1990s; subsequent to acquiring Yukos, accusations were made of other parties being squeezed out, and Yukos became formally owned by Rosprom, Menatep's holding company. In
8470-468: The national parliament of the delegation concerned. The few members who are appointed as rapporteurs, when they are carrying out work for the Assembly, have their costs covered by the Council of Europe. Some notable former members of PACE include: The special guest status of the National Assembly of Belarus was suspended on 13 January 1997. The Russian Federation ceased to be a member of
8580-441: The old resolution and that they had never called for infant circumcision to be banned in the first place. Although the Council of Europe is a human rights watchdog and a guardian against discrimination, it is widely regarded as becoming increasingly divided on moral issues because its membership includes mainly Muslim countries (Turkey and Azerbaijan) as well as Eastern European countries, among them Russia, where social conservatism
8690-409: The oligarchs could have faced similar charges; Khodorkovsky's imprisonment made them so docile that Putin confined himself to making an example of just one victim" . Control of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's shares in the Russian oil giant Yukos have passed to Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild upon his arrest. At the time of his arrest, Khodorkovsky was believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia and
8800-527: The organisation, it has used this power to negotiate with applicant countries the conditions on which they join). In the 1950s it led the way in embracing recently defeated Germany, in the 1960s it took a strong stand during the Greek crisis, and in the 1970s it welcomed post-Franco Spain and Portugal into the democratic fold. Above all, it played a key role after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, creating
8910-401: The outcome of this vote was already fixed and therefore this meeting would qualify as a "sham". The Yukos Oil Company's former shareholders and management filed a series of claims in courts and arbitration panels in various countries, seeking compensation for their expropriation. The largest, for over $ 100 billion, was filed at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2007 and resulted in
9020-538: The owner of 78% of Yukos shares following a two-stage auction in December 1995 and Khodorkovsky became its CEO, and from 1997, also its chairman. "In those days [the "anarchic Yeltsin years"] everyone in Russia was engaged in the primary accumulation of capital. Even when laws existed, they were not very rigorously followed. Therefore, if you conducted yourself too much in a Western manner, you were simply torn to pieces and forgotten." - Khodororkovsky, quoted in
9130-478: The parliaments of Kyrgyzstan , Jordan , Morocco and Palestine hold "Partner for Democracy" status with the Assembly – which allows their delegations to take part in the Assembly's work, but without the right to vote – and there are also observer delegates from the Canadian , Israeli and Mexican parliaments. The costs of participation in the Assembly – mainly travel and accommodation expenses – are borne by
9240-406: The parliaments of each member state . Delegations must reflect the balance in the national parliament, so contain members of both ruling parties and oppositions. The population of each country determines its number of representatives and number of votes. This is in contrast to the Committee of Ministers , the Council of Europe's executive body, where each country has one vote. While not full members,
9350-440: The political arena. The company was created on April 15, 1993 by Resolution No. 354 of the Russian government , following Presidential Decree No. 1403 (November 17, 1992), which had directed the government to transfer its directly owned oil and gas operations into separate companies, in preparation for privatization, with the aim of developing the oil and gas sector in Russia. OAO Yukos Oil Company, known as Yukos (ЮКОС)
9460-453: The power to: Important statutory functions of PACE are the election of the judges of the European Court of Human Rights , from a list of three candidates submitted by governments, as well as the leading officials of the Council of Europe. In general the Assembly meets four times per year in Strasbourg at the Palace of Europe for week-long plenary sessions. The nine permanent committees of
9570-468: The problem of multiple languages in Europe. The committee agreed Beethoven was "justly regarded as one of the great European geniuses", and that his tune "had universal value". In a resolution adopted on 8 July 1971, the Assembly formally proposed "Ode to Joy" as the European anthem. The proposal found favour with the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers , which formally adopted the anthem in 1972. It
9680-504: The procedure to be regulated and debated, and an accompanying report referred to the practice as a "human rights violation". This condemnation received criticism from religious groups and figures, such as Shimon Peres , the president of Israel at the time, as well as the Anti-Defamation League , which argued that circumcision was an accepted medical procedure and that the resolution interfered with religious freedom and
9790-406: The question was taken up by the Assembly's Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities. The parliamentarians saw an anthem as the next logical step, after the creation of the European flag in 1955 and Europe Day in 1964, to "spread the European idea" and - after initial discussion of a possible Europe-wide competition - the committee decided that a piece of music without words would overcome
9900-492: The real intent was to destroy Yukos and obtain its assets for the government, and act politically against Khodorkovsky. In 2014, the largest arbitration award in history, $ 50 billion (€37.2 billion), was won by Yukos' former owners against Russia. This $ 50 billion award by an arbitral tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration was ruled invalid by the District court in The Hague in 2016, but reinstated by
10010-417: The rule of law. The Assembly is made up of 306 members drawn from the national parliaments of the Council of Europe's member states, and meets four times a year for week-long plenary sessions in Strasbourg . It is one of the two statutory bodies of the Council of Europe, along with the Committee of Ministers , the executive body representing governments, with which it holds an ongoing dialogue. However, it
10120-505: The second wave of privatization that did take place—in particular, the "loans-for-shares" scheme, in which major Russian banks obtained shares in firms with strong potential as collateral for loans to the state—turned into a fraudulent shambles, which drew criticism from many" John Nellis, Center for Global Development In Putin and the Oligarch , Richard Sakwa offers a second perspective, that with oil prices varying from $ 16 to $ 25
10230-427: The small hours, the Assembly voted to change its rules, to make clear that its members should always have the right "to vote, to speak and to be represented", acceding to a key Russian demand and paving the way for the return of a Russian parliamentary delegation. Within hours the Russian parliament had presented the credentials of a new delegation, which – despite being challenged – were approved without any sanction by
10340-478: The tax claims put the "total tax burden" for 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 at 67%, 105%, 111%, and 83% of the company's declared revenue during those years. As a comparison, the annual tax bill of Gazprom is about US$ 4 billion on 2003 revenues of US$ 28.867 billion. Yukos' parent company, Menatep, lobbied extensively and successfully to influence Western public opinion, retaining Margery Kraus of APCO who successfully pushed through resolutions inter alia before
10450-552: The war. In June 2023, as the International Olympic Committee signalled it was considering allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part in the Paris 2024 Olympics as "neutral individuals", the Assembly urged the continuation of a total ban. The European Parliament has had criticism over its prodigality and for being too complacent with conflicts of interest. Its refusal to become full member of
10560-458: The work of the Assembly and its committees, but without the right to vote. The Assembly of Kosovo has been invited to designate a delegation to take part in the work of the Assembly and its committees as observers without the right to vote. On 24 April 2023, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe approved Kosovo's application for membership, allowing the application to progress to
10670-671: Was banking group Bank Menatep , chaired by its co-founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky , a 32-year-old early import-export (1987) and banking entrepreneur (1989), former chairman of the Investment Fund for Assistance to the Fuel and Oil Industry (1992), former deputy minister of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy (briefly in 1993), and CEO of Rosprom, an investment and holding company created to manage Menatep's portfolio of around 30 large industrial companies (140,000 employees). Menatep became
10780-405: Was listed by Forbes as the 16th richest person in the world, with a fortune estimated at $ 15 billion. His eventual sentence in 2005 was for 10 years, and attracted widespread international concern related to a perceived political motivation and lack of due process . (The European Court of Human Rights eventually ruled that while the arrest and several other points were unlawful, he
10890-633: Was a little-known Russian oil company called Baikal Finance Group , who paid $ 9.7 billion. It was later revealed that the previously unheard-of Baikal Finance Group is a group of Kremlin insiders headed by Igor Sechin , Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration and a close associate of President Vladimir Putin . On 22 December 2004, Baikalfinansgrup was purchased by Rosneft, a wholly state-owned Russian oil company. Sechin has been Chairman of Rosneft's Board of Directors since July 2004. The de facto nationalization of Yuganskneftegaz
11000-487: Was anti-Semitic. In response to these criticisms, Liliane Maury Pasquier of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post arguing that medical evidence against circumcision was presented in the Assembly's hearings and that the child's right to physical integrity overrode the parents' right to religious freedom. This op-ed was further criticized by
11110-427: Was banking and export driven following perestroika in the 1980s.) "[O]wnership of some of Russia's most valuable resources was auctioned off by oligarch-owned banks... Although they were supposedly acting on behalf of the state, the bankers rigged the process-and in almost every case ended up as the successful bidders. This was how Khodorkovsky got a 78 percent share of ownership in Yukos, worth about $ 5 billion, for
11220-542: Was bankrupted in 2006 and liquidated in 2007. In July 2004, Yukos was charged with tax evasion, for an amount of over US$ 27 billion. The Russian government accused the company of misusing tax havens inside Russia in the 1990s so as to reduce its tax burden; havens were set up by most major oil producers in outlying areas of Russia which had been granted special tax status to assist in their economic development; such "onshore-offshore" were used to evade profit taxes, resulting in Yukos having an effective tax rate of 11%, vs
11330-488: Was denounced by Andrei Illarionov , then a senior Putin economic advisor, as "the scam of the year." Yuganskneftegaz is located in the Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Western Siberia . With 11.63 billion barrels (1.849 billion cubic metres) of proven oil reserves , Yuganskneftegaz was the largest Yukos production complex. Yuganskneftegaz produces about 1 million barrels (160,000 m) of crude oil
11440-451: Was eventually adopted by the Council of Europe 's ministerial body, and entered into force in 1953. Today, seventy years later, the European Court of Human Rights – given shape and form during the Assembly's historic post-war debates – is regarded as a global standard-bearer for justice, protecting the rights of citizens in 46 European nations and beyond, and paving the way for the gradual convergence of human rights laws and practice across
11550-424: Was no longer legally possible. The Assembly's debate continued and - in a unanimous vote of 216 in favour, 0 against and 3 abstentions - the Assembly called for Russia's full expulsion. The following day, 16 March, at an extraordinary meeting, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe acceded to the Assembly's request, and decided that Russia should cease to be a member from that same day, after 26 years as
11660-460: Was not a "political prisoner" since the charges against him had been based on reasonable suspicion . ) The arrest was followed by a tax investigation into Yukos by the tax authorities, in December 2003, after which in April 2004 Yukos was issued in stages with tax claims for $ 27 billion, a sum that exceeded its total revenues for 2002 and 2003. At the same time, Yukos' assets were frozen by
11770-532: Was one of the companies so formed, on 12 May 1993. Its initial assets included: The company was named after these assets, "Yuganskneftegaz" + "KuybyshevnefteOrgSintez". The Samaraneftegaz ("Samara Oil and Gas") refinery was added to Yukos in 1995 under decree No. 864, and it later incorporated eight distribution companies in Central Russia and Siberia and assorted technical businesses. The first chairman and president appointed to lead Yukos, then still
11880-400: Was sold for $ 9.35 billion in a closed-room auction of just two bidders (one of which, Gazpromneft , was subject to a US court injunction and did not enter a bid ), and an unknown front company called Baikalfinansgrup which had been registered a few days before the auction, and whose bid was financed by state-owned oil company Rosneft . Rosneft acquired Baikalfinansgrup within days of
11990-471: Was subsequently taken up by the EU in 1985. In 1973 Swedish PACE member Astrid Bergegren first put forward a motion inviting member states to abolish the death penalty. Momentum built in the following years, and by 1980 the Assembly was calling on Europe's parliaments to abolish it, and insisting that the "right to life" included in the European Convention on Human Rights implied a ban on state killing. In 1989
12100-486: Was then under French control and did not rejoin Germany until 1957. It would have agreed to fourteen stars, but this was in turn unacceptable to France. Two years later, after further consultations, the twelve-star version was unanimously approved by both bodies of the Council of Europe, with twelve being regarded as a symbol of perfection, and no longer related to the number of states in the organisation. The institutions of
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