Claims by Rosneft and Bashneft were not held to be illegal, notes Denis Frolov, Partner, BMS Law Firm.

“The first claim filed by the state owned companies was satisfied, so at this stage such a mandatory element as illegality is missing”.

“Only if the appellate court establishes that, when filing their claims, Rosneft and Bashneft did not pursue to restore their rights, but instead intentionally wanted to cause harm to the defendant, then we may talk about recovery of damages. Although, it is virtually impossible to prove”, believes Frolov.