Rosneft Obtains Favorable Decision in English Court of Appeal

Cleary Gottlieb client Rosneft Oil Company achieved an important victory in the Court of Appeal of England on June 27, in ongoing litigation with Yukos Capital. Yukos Capital claims interest on arbitration awards that were annulled by the Russian courts but the Amsterdam Court of Appeal nevertheless enforced.

In granting Rosneft’s appeal, the English Court of Appeal rejected Yukos Capital’s argument that the Dutch treatment of the Russian judgments binds the English courts in any respect, leaving Rosneft free to defend based on the Russian annulment decisions. In a separate part of the English judgment, the court held that the English Act of State doctrine does not impact certain arguments Yukos Capital seeks to make concerning the Russian annulment decisions.

Cleary Gottlieb previously succeeded in gaining dismissal of a related lawsuit by Yukos Capital against Rosneft in New York in 2010, and is coordinating the defense of the litigation in England, working with Travers Smith.