Dutch appeals court order upholding an international arbitration award asking Russia to pay the shareholders of Moscow-based former oil giant Yukos $50 billion in compensation is seen as a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The court order that upturned a Hague district court’s decision annulling the tribunal decision brings back to focus the chequered career of oil baron Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who fell foul of Putin and went to jail. The case arose after Yukos was declared bankrupt and merged with the state-controlled Rosneft following tax evasion charges amounting to $27 billion in 2006. As Yukos chief ... (full story)