Russia to appeal EU Yukos Edict

Russia will appeal against a decision by Europe's top human rights court to award shareholders in Yukos 1.9 billion euros ($2.42 billion) by the end of this month, RIA news agency quoted Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov as saying on Thursday.

In July, the European Court of Human Rights found that Russia had failed to "strike a fair balance" in its treatment of Yukos, once run by former oligarch turned Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and had forced the now defunct company to pay excessive fees.

"Absolutely, by Oct. 30 (we will appeal)," RIA quoted Konovalov as saying.

Yukos, once worth $40 billion, was broken up and nationalised a decade ago, with most of its assets eventually handed to Rosneft, an energy giant run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin.

Konovalov said Moscow may also appeal the ruling of the international arbitration court in The Hague which handed some Yukos shareholders $50 billion, but added that Russia's finance ministry was dealing with that ruling.

Reporting by Lidia Kelly