UPDATE 4: Court raises Rosneft’s claims against Sistema to 171 bln rbl

(Adds details in last paragraph)

UFA, Jun 6 (PRIME) -- The Arbitration Court of the republic of Bashkortostan has approved a request of oil major Rosneft to raise claims under a suit against multi-industry holding Sistema to 170.6 billion rubles from 106.6 billion rubles, according to information obtained by PRIME in court on Tuesday.

In May, Rosneft filed the suit seeking to recover an alleged loss incurred by Sistema and its unit Sistema-Invest, which Rosneft believes were involved in asset stripping of Bashneft in 2009–2014, when they owned a controlling stake in the company. On May 24, Rosneft requested the Arbitration Court of the republic of Bashkortostan to raise claims under the suit to 170.6 billion rubles.

A representative of Bashkortostan’s Ministry of Land and Property Relations said that the government of the republic demanded redemption of 106 billion rubles from multi-industry holding Sistema in favor of oil company Bashneft under the initial suit filed by oil major Rosneft. Later, the representative said the government supported the increase of claims.

The representative also requested the court to include the ministry into the case, and Judge Irina Nurislamova agreed to include the ministry into the case as a co-claimant.

A Rosneft representative said that the volume of the claim was raised after its recalculation taking into account the dollar rate as Bashneft’s operating activity largely depends on the rate of the U.S. dollar. “Export revenue from sales of oil and oil products accounts for a significant share in Bashneft’s operating activity. Bashneft’s spending … is also largely carried out in the foreign currency or depends on the U.S. dollar rate,” the representative said.

“The company bought new equipment with foreign currency. Taxation, including export duties and the mineral extraction tax, were tied to the dollar rate. The share of the duties and taxes accounts for at least 30% in the structure of production costs. The share of foreign currency loans in Bashneft’s portfolio exceeded 50%.”

A Sistema representative asked the court to include the Federal State Property Management Agency into the case. “We obviously lack one participant here whose rights were affected – it is the Federal State Property Management Agency,” the person said.

(56.6152 rubles – U.S. $1)

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