April 20, 2016 — The District Court of The Hague allowed the challenge brought by the Russian Federation to the landmark 2014 arbitral award ordering the Russian Federation to pay over $50 billion to the former majority shareholders of Yukos Oil Company. In its decision, the District Court held that the award could not stand on the ground that the Russian Federation was not bound by the provisional application of Article 26 of the Energy Charter Treaty containing the offer to arbitrate, despite Russia having consented to its provisional application pursuant to Article 45 of the Treaty.