The applicant, OAO Neftyanaya kompaniya YUKOS, (YUKOS), was an oil company and one of Russia's largest and most successful businesses. YUKOS complained of irregularities in the proceedings concerning its tax liability for the 2000 tax year and about the unlawfulness and lack of proportionality of the 2000-2003 tax assessments and their subsequent enforcement. It maintained that the enforcement of its tax liability had been deliberately orchestrated to prevent it from repaying its debts; in particular, the seizure of its assets pending litigation had prevented it from repaying the debt.

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