Sergei Pugachev, a tycoon once dubbed "Putin's banker," is demanding more than $12 billion in compensation from Russia for carving up his multibillion-dollar business after he fell from favor with the Kremlin.
"Over the past few years, Russia has pursued a multipronged attack against me, my family, and my investments," Pugachev said in a written statement. "I refuse to be intimidated by Russia's tactics."
Pugachev's notice of arbitration was delivered to Putin and Russia's ministers of economy, finance, justice, and foreign affairs, his lawyers said at a briefing in Paris on September 22.
Reuters had reported on September 21 that lawyers for Pugachev had issued notice of a claim of more than $10 billion against Russia that is likely to be heard in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Moscow is already fighting a previous ruling by the same court, which ordered it to pay $50 billion for expropriating the assets of Yukos, once Russia's biggest oil producer.
