PCA Case No. AA 228 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION BEFORE A TRIBUNAL CONSTITUTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 26 OF THE ENERGY CHARTER TREATY AND THE 1976 UNCITRAL ARBITRATION RULES - between - VETERAN PETROLEUM LIMITED (CYPRUS) - and - THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION FINAL AWARD 18 July 2014 Tribunal The Hon. L. Yves Fortier PC CC OQ QC, Chairman Dr. Charles Poncet Judge Stephen M. Schwebel Mr. Martin J. Valasek, Assistant to the Tribunal Mr. Brooks W. Daly, Secretary to the Tribunal Ms. Judith Levine, Assistant Secretary to the Tribunal Registry Permanent Court of Arbitration Representing Claimant: Representing Respondent: Professor Emmanuel Gaillard Dr. Claudia Annacker Dr. Yas Banifatemi Mr. Lawrence B. Friedman Ms. Jennifer Younan Mr. David G. Sabel SHEARMAN & STERLING LLP Mr. Matthew D. Slater Mr. William B. McGurn Mr. J. Cameron Murphy CLEARY GOTTLIEB STEEN & HAMILTON LLP Mr. Michael S. Goldberg Mr. Jay L. Alexander Dr. Johannes Koepp Mr. Alejandro A. Escobar BAKER BOTTS LLP TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF DEFINED TERMS ..................................................................................................................... xiii INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY ................................................................................................................ 2 A. COMMENCEMENT OF THE ARBITRATION ................................................................................... 2 B. CONSTITUTION OF THE TRIBUNAL ............................................................................................. 3 C. PRELIMINARY PHASE ON JURISDICTION AND ADMISSIBILITY ................................................... 4 D. BIFURCATION AND OTHER SCHEDULING MATTERS ................................................................... 5 E. DOCUMENT PRODUCTION AND CONFIDENTIALITY ................................................................... 6 F. HEARING ON THE MERITS .......................................................................................................... 8 G. POST-HEARING PROCEDURES .................................................................................................. 11 II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................... 12 A. THE PARTIES TO THESE PROCEEDINGS .................................................................................... 13 1. Claimants and Related Entities ...................................................................................... 13 2. Respondent ..................................................................................................................... 13 B. OAO YUKOS OIL COMPANY .................................................................................................... 13 C. THE RUSSIAN LOW-TAX REGION PROGRAM ........................................................................... 14 D. CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS ......................................................................................................... 16 E. ADDITIONAL MEASURES .......................................................................................................... 17 1. Alleged Frustration of Merger Between Yukos and Sibneft .......................................... 18 2. Tax Reassessments for Years 2000–2004 ...................................................................... 18 3. Auction of YNG ............................................................................................................. 19 4. Bankruptcy Proceedings ................................................................................................ 20 5. Withdrawal of PwC’s Audits ......................................................................................... 20 III. PARTIES’ WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS ........................................................................................... 20 A. CLAIMANTS’ SKELETON ARGUMENTS ..................................................................................... 21 B. RESPONDENT’S SKELETON ARGUMENTS ................................................................................. 34 IV. PARTIES’ REQUESTS FOR RELIEF ............................................................................................. 48 A. RELIEF REQUESTED BY CLAIMANTS ........................................................................................ 48 B. RELIEF REQUESTED BY RESPONDENT ...................................................................................... 48 - i - V. APPLICABLE LAW ......................................................................................................................... 49 A. PROCEDURAL LAW .................................................................................................................. 49 B. SUBSTANTIVE LAW .................................................................................................................. 49 1. Energy Charter Treaty .................................................................................................... 49 2. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties ................................................................... 53 VI. SUMMARY OF WITNESS TESTIMONY ...................................................................................... 54 A. CLAIMANTS’ WITNESSES ......................................................................................................... 55 1. Mr. Jacques Kosciusko-Morizet .................................................................................... 55 2. Mr. Vladimir Dubov ...................................................................................................... 57 3. Mr. Frank Rieger ............................................................................................................ 59 4. Dr. Andrei Illarionov ..................................................................................................... 61 5. Mr. Leonid Nevzlin ........................................................................................................ 64 6. Mr. Bruce Misamore ...................................................................................................... 67 7. Mr. Steven Theede ......................................................................................................... 69 8. Mr. Brent Kaczmarek ..................................................................................................... 72 9. Mr. Philip Baker QC ...................................................................................................... 73 10. Mr. Yuri Schmidt ........................................................................................................... 74 11. Dr. Sergei Kovalev ......................................................................................................... 75 B. RESPONDENT’S WITNESSES ..................................................................................................... 76 1. Professor James Dow ..................................................................................................... 76 2. Mr. Oleg Y. Konnov ...................................................................................................... 78 3. Professor Reinier Kraakman .......................................................................................... 81 4. Professor H. David Rosenbloom .................................................................................... 83 5. Professor Thomas Z. Lys ............................................................................................... 85 6. Ms. Felicity Cullen QC .................................................................................................. 87 7. Mr. Dale Hart ................................................................................................................. 88 8. Mr. Polyvios Polyviou ................................................................................................... 89 9. Mr. John Ellison ............................................................................................................. 90 10. Mr. Raymond Gross ....................................................................................................... 91 11. Professor Dr. Albert Jan van den Berg........................................................................... 93 - ii - 12. Professor Stef van Weeghel ........................................................................................... 94 C. THE SO-CALLED “EMPTY CHAIRS” ......................................................................................... 95 1. Individuals that Claimants Wished were Available for Examination ............................ 96 2. Individuals that Respondent Wished were Available for Examination ......................... 97 VII. ISSUES FOR ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................ 98 VIII. ANALYSIS OF THE EVIDENTIARY RECORD ......................................................................... 102 A. THE TAX OPTIMIZATION SCHEME ......................................................................................... 102 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 102 2. The Structure of the Tax Optimization Scheme ..........................................................