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| - Russia said Tuesday it would appeal a Dutch court ruling in favour of shareholders seeking $50 billion in compensation for the dismantling of Russian oil giant Yukos. Russia "will continue to defend its legitimate interests and, in an appeal, contest the verdict" delivered on Tuesday by a Dutch court, the justice ministry said in a statement. The Appeals Court in The Hague overturned a lower Dutch court's decision in favour of Russia, which had contested an original decision by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that awarded shareholders billions of dollars after Yukos was dismantled in the mid-2000s. The ministry said the Dutch court had "ignored the fact that the former shareholders in Yukos were not investors in good faith. The control of shares in this company were obtained thanks to a number of illegal actions." Yukos, once Russia's biggest post-Soviet oil company, was broken up after its former owner, Kremlin critic and tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was arrested in 2003 on charges of tax evasion, fraud and embezzlement. Khodorkovsky said the court ruling was a vindication of his accusations that the case against him was motivated by his political activities. The decision confirmed that "the expropriation of Yukos was not about taxes, but about the fight against political opponents," Khodorkovsky, who lives in exile in London, said on Twitter. "It was the Kremlin that lost, not Russia." apo/mm/klm
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