Moscow court seizes 71 bln rbl property on Sistema’s Bashneft suit

MOSCOW, Feb 17 (PRIME) -- The Moscow Arbitration Court has seized 70.7 billion rubles worth of money and property owned by Ural-Invest, an investment fund belonging to Ural Rakhimov, on request from multi-industry holding AFK Sistema, the court said in a statement on Tuesday.

On Monday, the court ordered Ural-Invest to repay 70.7 billion rubles to Sistema under a case on Sistema’s purchase of oil company Bashneft. The court also fulfilled the request for provisional measures filed by Sistema on February 13.

But Ural-Invest has only 51.2 billion rubles of assets, which may prevent the fulfillment of the ruling, the court said adding that Sistema’s Bashneft suit does not contradict provisional measures under the request.

Sistema bought about 71.6% in Bashneft from Ural-Invest in 2009. In late 2014, Russia nationalized Sistema’s 73.94% stake in Bashneft after the court ruled that the oil company’s privatization by regional authorities was illegal. In December 2014, Sistema filed a 70.7 billion ruble claim with the court seeking to recover losses.

Ural-Invest will appeal against the decision.

(62.6632 rubles – U.S. $1)

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