The Arbitral Award of 18.7.2014 in the Veteran Pertoleum v. Russia case

On 18.7.2014, an Arbitral Tribunal composed of L. Yves Fortier, Ch. Poncet and S. Schwebel issued three awards in cases brought by Veteran Petroleum Limited (Cyprus), Hulley Enterprises Limited (Cyprus) and Yukos Universal Limited (Isle of Man) (together as the “Claimants”) against Russia (together as the “Yukos Awards”)1 for the violation by Russia of the Energy Charter Treaty due to its treatment of Yukos, which was once the largest oil company in Russia. The Award was noted worldwide not only by the international investment law community but also by the general public. Yet, the landmark nature of the Yukos Awards does not result solely from the political context or the amount of damages awarded by the Tribunal, but also from the complexity and importance of legal issues that it dealt with.