MOSCOW, December 10 (RAPSI) – European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced on Tuesday that Russia’s request for referral of the Yukos case to the Grand Chamber has been rejected.

The judgment handed down on July 31 ordering Russia to pay Yukos shareholders about 1,9 billion euros becomes final. Russia's Justice Ministry expressed extreme disagreement with the court's decision.

The ruling in question concerns the tax and enforcement proceedings brought in 2004 against the Russian oil company Yukos, which eventually led to its liquidation in 2007.

In September 2011, the ECHR found a violation of Article 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) concerning the tax assessment proceedings for the year 2000 against Yukos as well as violations of Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the Convention (protection of property).

Yukos shareholders demanded over 81 billion euros in compensation, but the court postponed the delivery of the judgment on the question of just satisfaction.

The ECHR held last July that Russia was to pay the shareholders of Yukos "as they had stood at the time of the company’s liquidation and, if applicable, their legal successors and heirs" over 1.8 billion euros in respect of pecuniary damage and 300,000 euros in respect of costs and expenses to the Yukos International Foundation. It had been created in the Netherlands by Yukos with a view to distributing to its shareholders any funds it would receive.

Earlier, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague published a ruling on the claim brought by former Yukos shareholders awarding them a total of $50 billion in damages. Russia immediately announced its intention to contest the ruling.