Liable in the State’s stead

VEB became last week the first public venture that officially acknowledged the risk of seizure of its assets in connection with the YUKOS case. Other state corporations are not yet in a hurry to hedge.

Evgeny Zhilin, Managing Partner of the Law Firm "YUST", commented for the RBC newspaper on why the risk of seizure cannot be ruled out: “The trend to pierce the so-called corporate veil has lately become apparent in the law of many states. This means that in certain cases the state may be ruled liable for the actions of 100% state-owned companies; and vice versa, there are cases, when liability for the state’s obligations may be imposed on the assets, which the state owns indirectly. That is why the preventive measures adopted by VEB are correct, because the court, having heard the respondent’s arguments, often rules to lift the seizure”.

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