The Arbitrazh (Commercial) Court, acting as cassation court, upheld the decision of the court of first instance, which had denied enforcement of a Cypriot award. The Court noted that public policy is one of the grounds for refusal of enforcement exhaustively listed in the New York Convention, and explained that it should be understood to refer to the fundamental legal principles that are the basis of the economic, political and legal system of the Russian Federation. On the facts of the case, the Court agreed with the court below that enforcement of the award would violate mandatory rules of the Russian Federation and negatively affect public interest, specifically, would lead to a shortfall in taxes. The contract on which the award was based, the Court found, was concluded between affiliated entities, did not meet the interests of the respondent and had no economic feasibility for it. Hence, it was a sham transaction aimed at withdrawing funds from the Russian company to the account of a foreign company without an equivalent consideration.