Russian oil giant ordered to pay €1.1bn

Embattled Russian oil giant Yukos was ordered to pay over €1.1bn in fines and penalties today as part of a €3.31bn back-tax claim for 2001.

The decision came after the deputy chairman of the Moscow Arbitration Court threw out a request by Yukos lawyers seeking the appointment of a new judge in the case, part of a broad-based legal campaign against the company and its former chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man.