Unipro appeals against court ruling in 24 mln rbl suit against RUSAL

MOSCOW, Jul 2 (PRIME) -- Russian power producer Unipro has filed an appeal to the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal against a lower court’s decision to terminate the company’s contract with Novokuznetsk Aluminium Smelter of Russian aluminum giant UC RUSAL to receive more than 24 million rubles in debt redemption, Unipro said late on Monday.

The Novokuznetsk plant filed a suit previously asking the court to cancel a capacity supply agreement signed for the third unit of the Berezovskaya GRES power plant of Unipro in 2010. The power unit malfunctioned on February 1, 2016, but the plant paid money for non-supplied power under the agreement until October 31, 2016, when Unipro officially acknowledged that the unit produces no power.

The plant wanted the Moscow Arbitration Court to cancel the agreement and to oblige Unipro return the money it received from the plant during the downtime of the Berezovskaya GRES. The court sided with the company in May 2019.

All subsidiaries of RUSAL filed four suits over the Berezovskaya GRES malfunction totaling 285 million rubles. The Moscow Arbitration Court and the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal already upheld the suit of Bratsk Aluminium Smelter, the former court approved the suits of the Novokuznetsk and Sayanogorsk plants, and it now is to hear a similar suit of RUSAL Energo on July 30.

(63.0541 rubles – U.S. $1)

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