Yukos Capital Limited v The Russian Federation (High Court of Justice (Commercial Court), CL-2023-000799, [2026] EWHC 1918 (Comm))

Procedural record

1. 17 July 2026England and Wales

   17 July 2026England and Wales

   Judgment of the High Court of Justice (Commercial Court) in case CL-2023-000799 dated 17 July 2026

   High Court of Justice (Commercial Court)

   Case no.

   CL-2023-000799

   Citation

   [2026] EWHC 1918 (Comm)

   Decision summary

   The court held that cause of action estoppel was unavailable because the Swiss set-aside proceedings and the English state-immunity proceedings concerned different rights and remedies. It held that issue estoppel was unavailable under Swiss law, answered the first preliminary issue in the negative, recorded the agreed affirmative answer to the second issue, and held that the third issue did not arise.

   Participants

   Application

   Preliminary issue 1: cause of action and issue estoppel — Answered in the negative

   Application

   Preliminary issue 2: recognition and enforcement requirements for a foreign judgment against a foreign state under section 31 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 — Answered in the affirmative by agreement

   Application

   Preliminary issue 3: consequence for the state-immunity application — Did not arise

   Yukos Capital Limited

   Representative

   Lord Charles Falconer of Thoroton KC (For: Yukos Capital Limited)

   Representative

   Gibson Dunn & Crutcher UK LLP (For: Yukos Capital Limited)

   Expert

   Dr Berger (For: Yukos Capital Limited)

   The Russian Federation

   Representative

   Mark Wassouf (For: The Russian Federation)

   Representative

   Cameron Miles (For: The Russian Federation)

   Representative

   Maud Mullan (For: The Russian Federation)

   Representative

   Pinna Goldberg Ltd (For: The Russian Federation)

   Expert

   Dr Arfazadeh (For: The Russian Federation)

   High Court of Justice (Commercial Court)

   Judge

   Mark Pelling KC

   Authorities cited

   22

   • Arbitration Act 1996
     statute
   • State Immunity Act 1978
     statute
   • Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982
     statute
   • Swiss Federal Law on Private International Law, Article 190
     statute
   • Civil Procedure Rules, Part 35
     rules
   • Virgin Atlantic Airways v Zodiac Seats UK Limited ([2013] UKSC 46; [2014] AC 160)
     case
   • Arnold v National Westminster Bank ([1991] 2 AC 93)
     case
   • Letang v Cooper ([1964] 2 All ER 929)
     case
   • Berezovsky v Abramovich ([2011] EWCA Civ 153; [2011] 1 WLR 2290)
     case
   • Co-operative Group v Birse Developments Limited ([2013] EWCA Civ 474)
     case
   • Thoday v Thoday ([1964] P 181)
     case
   • Hulley Enterprises v The Russian Federation ([2025] EWCA Civ 108; [2026] KB 1)
     case
   • Carl Zeiss v Rayner & Keeler Limited (No 2) ([1967] 1 AC 853)
     case
   • The Good Challenger ([2004] 1 Lloyd's Rep 67)
     case
   • Henderson v Henderson ((1843) 3 Hare 100)
     case
   • Skatteforvaltningsmyndigheden v MCML Limited ([2026] UKSC 19)
     case
   • MAD Atelier International BV v Manès ([2020] EWHC 1014 (Comm); [2020] QB 971)
     case
   • R (OAO the Good Law Project) v The Secretary of State for Health ([2021] EWHC 2595 (TCC))
     case
   • R (OAO MQ) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department ([2023] EWHC 205 (Admin))
     case
   • Hulley v The Russian Federation ([2023] EWHC 2704 (Comm); [2024] KB 208)
     case
   • Hulley v The Russian Federation ([2025] SGHC(I) 19)
     case
   • India v Deutsche Telekom AG ([2023] SGCA(I) 10)
     case
2. Date not availableSwitzerland

   Date not availableSwitzerland

   Arbitral Award dated 23 July 2021

   Decision summary

   The arbitral tribunal made an award in Yukos Capital Limited's favour against the Russian Federation for breaches of the Energy Charter Treaty 1994.

   Participants

   Yukos Capital Limited

   Russian Federation