UPDATE: Sistema asks court to reject 171 bln rbl Rosneft suit

(Adds background in paragraph 3, details in paragraphs 4, 7)

UFA, Jun 27 (PRIME) -- Russian multi-industry holding Sistema asked the Bashkortostan Arbitration Court on Tuesday to turn down a 170.6 billion ruble lawsuit by oil major Rosneft and its affiliate Bashneft.

“Our position has not changed, we are asking to leave the claim without consideration,” a Sistema representative said.

Rosneft filed the suit in May, seeking to recover a loss stemming from alleged asset withdrawal from Bashneft in 2009–2014 by Sistema.

During the hearing, the court refused to bring the Federal State Property Management Agency into the proceedings as a third party. Sistema said that since Bashneft was nationalized in late 2014, Rosneft received the asset from the federal authority.

The holding earlier offered a way to settle the case out of court without money compensation, but Rosneft called the proposal unsubstantiated.

Sistema also sent a claim to the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow to deny a proof of its guilt presented by Rosneft, spokeswoman for the court Emiliya Khil told PRIME on Tuesday.

The hearing was slated for July 10.

Rosneft used a notarized copy of letters by officials of Bashneft to prove that the former shareholder withdrew assets from the oil company.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin has not sided with any participant of the conflict.

Business daily Kommersant reported last week that Sistema’s independent directors asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to pay attention to the lawsuit because it demonstrates an attempt by a state company to expand its power, using unscrupulous methods.

A source with knowledge of the situation told PRIME that security services of the Bashkortostan Republic will investigate an incident with a fake repeal of the case against Sistema.

Last week, a document saying that that Rosneft and Bashneft had filed a request to reject the suit appeared on the Web site of the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The information was later refuted.

(59.0014 rubles – U.S. $1)

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