Court of Appeal Rules in Favor of Akin Gump Client in Oil Theft Dispute Against Four Ukrainian Oligarchs

(London) The Court of Appeal, in a judgment announced today, has found that a claim by PJSC Tatneft alleging the misappropriation of substantial sums owed to it should not have been dismissed by the High Court and that the case may proceed to trial. A cross-border team from Akin Gump has been advising Tatneft in the matter.

In its ruling, the Court found that, contrary to the High Court’s judgment in November 2016, Tatneft’s claim did not “suffer from any fundamental inconsistencies” and that there is a “serious case to be tried” and “a sufficiently real prospect of success” of the claim to overturn the first instance judgment ruling and remand the case for trial. 

The defendants in the case are Gennadiy Bogolyubov, Igor Kolomoisky, Alexander Yaroslavsky and Pavel Ovcharenko.

Commenting on the decision, Akin Gump partner Ilya Rybalkin, who led the team representing Tatneft, said, “We are pleased by today’s ruling by the Court that it was inappropriate for our client’s claim to be dismissed. This matter is now in a place where we always thought it should be: continuing to trial, where Tatneft looks forward to proving its claims for substantial damages.”

In addition to Mr. Rybalkin, the Akin Gump team representing Tatneft in the appeal includes London partner Richard Hornshaw, Moscow counsels Ivan Meleshenko, Gayane Nadzharova, Pavel Kabatov, Andrey Kulikov and London counsel Tom Laidler. The team also includes Moscow associate Anastasia Konstantinova, London associates Natascha Steiner-Smith, Hanna Wright, and Nick Turvey, and junior associate Anna Podkopayeva.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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