Former owners of the defunct Russian oil...

An international tribunal ruled on Monday that the Russian government is bound by the terms of the Energy Charter Treaty, even though the Russian parliament has yet to ratify it. The ruling opens the way for Menatep Group, the Yukos holding company, to sue the government in the tribunal over the state takeover of the company, the paper said.

Yukos was declared bankrupt August 1, 2006, after three years of litigation with tax authorities over the company"s tax arrears and formally ceased to exist in November 2007, after its assets had been sold off through a series of liquidation auctions to meet vast creditor claims.

State oil company Rosneft bought up the lion"s share of the production assets, becoming Russia"s largest oil producer.

Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud and tax evasion. He has consistently denied all charges against him, saying he was punished for supporting the tiny pro-Western opposition, and that

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