Khodorkovsky_Dec2013
Freed Russian former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky speaks during his news conference in the Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin on Dec. 22, 2013. Reuters/Axel Schmidt

(Reuters) - The Hague's arbitration court has ruled in favor of a group of shareholders in defunct oil giant Yukos against Russia, awarding compensation of around $50 billion, a source close to the ruling said on Monday.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague is expected to announce later today that Russia must pay the compensation - half of the original $100 billion claim - to former shareholders in the company, once Russia's largest oil producer.

The claim in the Hague was made by subsidiaries of Gibraltar-based Group Menatep, a company through which Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, controlled Yukos. Group Menatep now exists as holding company GML and Khodorkovsky is no longer a shareholder in GML or Yukos.