$28 Million Judgment to New York Based Joy-Lud Distributors International Blocked by Russian Authorities

Joy-Lud Distributors International, Inc., a former leading oil product distributor based in New York City, won landmark arbitration against OJSC Moscow Oil Refinery (MOR) in 2005. Joy-Lud was awarded a sum of $28 million, which has accrued to over $40 million. Presently the documents used by the Russian bailiffs for enforcement have been seized by local Moscow authorities and the bailiffs have failed to take any action to collect the award for over a year.

"There is a strong inference of a link between the problems in enforcing the $28 million arbitration award against Moscow Oil Refinery encountered by Joy-Lud Distributors International, Inc. and certain Russian figures of power. This is based on an article in the Russian newspaper Kommersant, July 23, 2009, and from statements made in the London Commercial Court," stated Gene Burd, counsel to Joy-Lud Distributors International, Inc., of the law firm Marks Sokol & Burd, which focuses on Russia and Ukraine.

The Kommersant article refers to the Chalva Pavlovich Tchigirinsky case against Orton Oil Company Limited and Bronson Partners Corporation presently pending in the London Commercial Court. Mr. Tchigirinsky, a major shareholder of the London based Sibir Energy and a former member of the board of both Sibir Energy and Moscow Oil Refinery as well as the former President of the Moscow Oil & Gas Company, a controlling shareholder of Moscow Oil Refinery, claims in the lawsuit that he and Ms. Elena Baturina, according to Forbes Magazine one of Russia's richest women and wife of the Mayor of the City of Moscow, were partners in real estate and oil related projects. Tchigirinsky's lawyer states in documents filed with the court that Ms. Baturina enabled business operations by facilitating them on an administrative and political level. While Ms. Baturina denies the existence of the partnership, a copy of the document purportedly evidencing the partnership allegedly signed by both Ms. Baturina and Mr. Tchigirinsky was published by Kommersant on July 23, 2009.

In addition to these findings, according to Richard L'Altrelli, General Counsel to Joy-Lud, "it is common knowledge that Ms. Baturina is the President and beneficial owner of CJSC Inteco. Inteco became a business partner with MOR in 1997, which was also the same time that the Moscow City government became a majority shareholder in MOR. Ms. Baturina's husband was the Mayor of Moscow at that time as well. Once this occurred, Inteco became the major purchaser from MOR and almost immediately, MOR terminated two contracts with outside vendors, one with Fiber Technologies International Ltd. and the other with Joy-Lud." Both Fiber Technologies and Joy-Lud are owned by Russian emigre, American businessman and real estate entrepreneur, Tamir Sapir.

Gene Burd stated, "the arbitrary actions of the Moscow authorities is a telling example of what President Dmitry Medvedev called 'legal nihilism' and that the rest of the world unfortunately has come to expect from the 'Russian business as usual'. Joy-Lud is presently considering all of its legal options, including referring this matter to appropriate authorities in relevant jurisdictions," added Burd.

On January 22, 2008, the High Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation, Russia's highest commercial court rejected for at least the second time MOR challenges to the enforcement of the 2005 landmark $28 million award won by Joy-Lud Distributors International, Inc. The 2005 award was granted by international arbitration in Stockholm.

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