DUTCH ON INVESTIGATION OF AMCITS IN YUKOS CASE

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 002261 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE EUR/UBI (RREITER),EUR/RUS (SGUHA) MOSCOW FOR DNYSTROM E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/18/2016 TAGS: PREL EPET RS NL SUBJECT: DUTCH ON INVESTIGATION OF AMCITS IN YUKOS CASE REF: STATE 167167 Classified By: Acting Economic Counselor Karen Enstrom, reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Econoff delivered on October 10 reftel points regarding the GOR criminal investigation against the American and former Yukos executives Steven Theede, Bruce Misamore and David Godfrey to Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) officials Natascha Soons, Policy officer, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Division, and Judith Peters, Policy Officer, Legal Consular Affairs Division. Following the August 18 Russian Prosecutor General's Press Statement, Peters said the Dutch MFA had speculated whether the Russians might place these U.S. citizens on the Interpol extradition list. Given the political sensitivities of the case, she said any such requests would need to go first through diplomatic channels. ¶2. (C) On the ongoing civil litigation in Dutch courts concerning the Amsterdam-based holding company Yukos Finance, Soons added that developments in these cases had largely been "positive" for these Yukos executives. Both officials agreed to inform post of any further reaction or actions taken. They also offered to research the cases further provided that the USG supplied additional information such as dates of birth for those under investigation. ¶3. (U) These ongoing court cases involve the status of Yukos Oil's international assets held by the Dutch holding company Yukos Finance. Under a 2005 court case, Yukos Finance was granted the right to sell off international assets to pay its creditors. The Russian state-owned oil company Yugansneftegaz contested the decision, as it reportedly preferred to obtain the assets rather than accept cash payments. These assets included Lithuanian oil company Mazeikiu Nafta and the Slovak oil pipeline operator Transpetrol. Yukos Finance still holds Transpetrol. Other cases concern the control over the management of Yukos Finance. As a result of these latter cases, Russian-appointed Bankruptcy Administrator Eduard Rebgun has replaced Yukos Finance's board of directors. ARNALL