© deutsch.rt.comThe Hague: International Court of Justice
The Russian Justice Ministry made the statement after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of 18 Ukrainian companies that sought compensation from the Russian government over damages allegedly inflicted as a result of the 2014 reunification of the Crimean Republic and the Russian Federation.
The court did not disclose other details of the lawsuit, but the Justice Ministry told Russian news agency RBC that the Ukrainian plaintiffs want about $140 million plus interest.
"The Russian Federation does not recognize the above mentioned decision because the court of arbitration is outside the jurisdiction allowing it to look into this case," reads the Justice Ministry's statement.
Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow did not consider itself a party in the process and therefore had no intention to comply with the ruling. "Russia was not represented in this court in any way, we have not sent our representative to this process and this is why we do not consider ourselves a party in this trial," he said.
Russia has already faced huge compensation claims in The Hague Arbitration Court. It happened after the 2014 decision which called on Russia to pay about $50 billion to shareholders in Yukos Oil Company, dissolved after its founder and key owner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was jailed over embezzlement and major tax evasion.
The 2014 ruling led to temporary freeze of some Russian assets abroad, including a plot of land on which a new Orthodox cathedral in Paris is located and Moscow's stake in the Euronews TV channel.
Moscow appealed the decision, also claiming the judgement did not fall within the jurisdiction of the arbitration court. In mid-2016 Russia won the appeal and by late 2017 former Yukos shareholders completely withdrew their claims and the freezes on the Russian property were lifted.
We have just been reminded of it with the election of Mahathir who told the IMF's Camdessus to “go away” when he proposed the destruction of the Malaysian economy in favor of the West.
We have seen the way the UN is constantly pressured to do what its major financiers want regardless of law or justice. From time to time we see departments of the UN (on nuclear, chemical or biological weapons control) pressured to report contrary to facts.
In the heartlands of humanity's enemies we see their environmental protections cancelled and the degradation of the environment encouraged by venal officials for reward. Is there an acre of America that is not available for fracking? The passive population sends dissenting messages to each other, tut tuts, and opens another beer. Who cares?