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Viktor Khristenko, Gazprom Served Summons
A lawyer of Covington&Burling and three persons employed by that legal firm and by Greenberg&Traurig served a summons and case files to Russia’s Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko in Washington Monday. The documents relate to the complaint of YUKOS minors and were presented to the minister in time of the banquet held in his honor.
A lawyer of Covington&Burling and three persons employed by that legal firm and by Greenberg&Traurig served a summons and case files to Russia’s Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko in Washington Monday. The documents relate to the complaint of YUKOS minors and were presented to the minister in time of banquet held in his honor.
Under the files obtained by Kommersant, Khristenko faces charges under the seven clauses of the U.S. Civil Code. “This Complaint arises out of the coordinated attack of Defendant Russian Federation and other defendant co-conspirators against Yukos Oil Company and its owners. The purpose and effect of this attack has been the de facto re-nationalization of Yukos without payment of any compensation to its owners,” the basic accusation says.
The civil complaint was brought in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday and admitted by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Besides Khristenko, the codefendants under the case are the Russian Federation, RF Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin, nearly all top managers of Gazprom, including Alexey Miller, Rosneft President Sergey Bogdanchikov and top-ranked officials of President Putin’s administration – Igor Sechin and Dmitry Medvedev.
”As a PR move, the effect of the summons has surpassed all Washington meetings and statements of Khristenko,” one of the sources told Kommersant on condition of anonymity.
A Historical Visit
Viktor Khristenko arrived in the United States Sunday in a tour, called “historical” by some analysts and “an oligarch parade” by others. The delegation picked out for the trip includes SUAL President Viktor Vekselberg, Rosneft President Sergey Bogdanchikov, LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov, Gazpromexport General Director Alexander Medvedev, Sukhoi Aircraft Holding General Director Mikhail Pogosyan and others.
The interesting point is that all sources that have commented on the trip always insisted on condition of anonymity. This way or another, they all are involved in the energy talks with Russia’s companies and the RF Cabinet.
“For the first time, the Russians have provided a really powerful delegation,” one of the sources went on commenting to Kommersant, saying “he is not very sure that the tour turns out effective.” After looking at Alexey Miller’s photo in Gazprom’s booklet on the table, his colleague confined to the remark that Miller “has taken off moustache.”
Having made a speech in the National Press Club, which meeting was mostly attended by the delegation members and Russian reporters, the energy minister of Russia held negotiations with the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, Secretary of Energy Sam Bodman, Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez.
Viktor Khristenko and all other members of the delegation had around an hour talk with U.S. President George W. Bush only an hour and a half before the banquet’s beginning and the service of summons.
The mere holding of a meeting with the U.S. president was questionable till the very last moment. According to sources with the State Department and Khristenko’s delegation, President Bush agreed to spend some time with Russia’s delegation in the very nick of time, having yielded to numerous requests of the RF Embassy in Washington.
Following the meeting in the White House and yet unaware of what would happen in time of the banquet, Viktor Khristenko spent around half an hour with the reporters, sharing his impressions of the conversation with George W. Bush.
“I see this meeting [of the leaders] of Russia’s major companies with the president,” Khristenko told the reporters in Willard Hotel, “as a definite result, as, to the greatest extent, it is a response to any risks of political nature.”
“It was a direct talk in American style,” one of the members of Russia’s delegation told Kommersant, when discussing the recent conversation with George W. Bush. I have compared this meeting to our discussion at President Putin's in the Kremlin, he added, giving a nervous smile when asked to share his conclusion.
In addition to the meeting with President Bush, Russian diplomats in Washington had also arranged the visit of Viktor Khristenko’s delegation to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici.
Khristenko was apparently content with the talks at the senator. Mr Domenici, Khristenko told the reporters, gave a very positive evaluation to bilateral cooperation in part of the energy dialog.
According to a source with the senator’s office, Domenici has seen all Russians present first time in his life” and “the talk has covered a wide range of issues concerning the U.S.-Russia’s relations.”
Dinner Sauce
After a rather lengthy intercourse with reporters in one of the Willard’s halls before the banquet, Viktor Khristenko headed to the VIP-hall.
The multiple guests, including Chevron CEO David O’Railly and Conoco Philipps CEO James Mulva [both companies are on Gazprom’s short list for Shtokmanovskoe field], were rather amiable to Russians.
The doors to the banquet hall opened once the guests spent half an hour with glasses in hands looking forward to the dinner. Exactly at that moment, Russia’s Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko was approached by four persons – lawyer Oliver Thomas Johnson from Covington&Burling, which stands for the YUKOS minors, and three men of sports build, specially hired for that mission of top significance.
David Felter, who actually handed the complaint to Khristenko, told Kommersant he had delivered the papers to other defendants and that Khristenko’s English was good enough to grasp what it was all about. By taking the documents, the Russian minister has actually confirmed their receipt with witnesses present and it would suffice for the U.S. laws, Felter said.
Pursuant to the U.S. laws, as a private person, Viktor Khristenko may respond within 20 days from the date of the summons’ service, lawyer Oliver Thomas specified to Kommersant, pointing out Gazprom has 60 days for it as a legal entity. Should no responses be given in the stipulated dates, the court may automatically uphold the YUKOS minors. Starting from that date, all material claims could be enforced on defendants by any legal means, the lawyer pointed out.
The action against Viktor Khristenko and codefendants was brought in by 12 minors, including 11 individuals and an entity, all of them, but for a resident of the Netherlands and the Cayman Islands-incorporated FCTAmerica Limited, are the residents of the United States.
Khristenko couldn’t be reached for comment. He left the banquet once the formal part was over to catch a plane to Houston, where a gas conference is held.
Dmitry Sidorov, Washington
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