A UK judge has declined to allow SCF Group (Sovcomflot)-controlled Novoship to demand payment of the full 2012 fraud judgment against Wilmer Ruperti, now that the Venezuelan businessman has paid overdue amounts on a $40m settlement.

Justice Andrew Smith, of the UK High Court’s Queen’s Bench Division, ruled that Russia’s Novoship had the right to pursue enforcement of $98m — made up of the full judgment, interest and other costs — from Ruperti while his 2013 and 2014 payments were past due. But last month, he paid the $25.6m that he owed after reaching a long-awaited, separate settlement deal with state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

Novoship’s lawyers had argued that under the company’s agreement with Ruperti, once he missed payments and the Russian company elected to pursue the full original judgment, there was no turning back.

“I do not think that a reasonable reader of the settlement agreement would understand the parties to intend to give the Novoship companies the right of election that they claim,” wrote Smith, sitting in the division’s Commercial Court.

Novoship has not torn up the settlement deal and Ruperti has made his payment obligations, “albeit late”.

“There are no longer judgment debts that can be enforced,” the judge said, although Novoship can seek interest on the late payments.

Ruperti struck the settlement in 2013 as Novoship’s massive fraud litigation continued to rage against him, private Russian shipowner Yuri Nikitin and former Novoship general manager Vladimir Mikhaylyuk.

In exchange for the reduction in his debts under the judgment for $59.2m plus $27m in pre-judgment costs, Ruperti agreed to flip sides and testify against co-defendants Nikitin and Mikhaylyuk. He lived up to that part of the bargain but claimed that the failure to reach an agreement with PDVSA left him unable to make payments.

After depositing the past-due amounts, Ruperti has $15m left to pay in July and December.

But Novoship demanded more, arguing that Ruperti must immediately pay up the remaining cash under the settlement agreement and insisting that the Russian company has the right to go after all the remaining debts under the original judgment.

“We are obviously disappointed by this ruling, which means [Novoship] will have collected only $48.6m before costs in respect of the successful claims against Mr Ruperti, and we will be seeking leave to appeal the finding to the Court of Appeal,” said Vladimir Mednikov, adviser to the CEO of PAO Sovcomflot.

Ruperti is represented in the case by barrister Andrew Hunter and solicitors at Baker & McKenzie, while barrister Charles Dougherty and solicitors at Ince & Co are in Novoship’s corner.