Europe’s top human rights court awarded shareholders in Yukos €1.9 billion in damages yesterday, a new blow to Russia days after some of the former oil company’s shareholders won $50 billion in The Hague.

The Strasbourg-based court found that Russia had failed to “strike a fair balance” in its treatment of Yukos, once run by former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and had forced the company to pay excessive fees.

While the €1.9 billion awarded by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is a fraction of the €38 billion which Yukos sought, it hits Russia hard at a time when the country is on the brink of recession and is reeling from tougher sanctions imposed by the West this week over its actions in Ukraine.

Russia’s Justice Ministry said the ECHR ruling was unfair and biased and said it could appeal within three months. (Reuters)

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