Nationalisation battle: over a number of Bashkir assets, including oil producer Bashneft
Moscow wins latest Bashkir battle
A Moscow court today upheld an earlier decision to return most of the $7 billion oil assets previously owned by private companies based in the Urals region of Bashkortostan to the state.
Vyacheslav Kuleshov, one of the lawyers of the assets' current owners, told Reuters a court of appeal confirmed the decision over the third of the four lawsuits, brought by the Federal Tax Service against the owners.
"The decision was quite predictable," Kuleshov said.
He said the court postponed the hearing over the fourth appeal until 18 March, which, if also rejected, would end the process of renationalising the assets, which include a mid-sized oil producer, four refineries and a retail copany.
The present owners of the assets are four little-known companies - Agidel-Invest, Inzer-Invest, Yuryuzan-Invest and Ural-Invest - all of which have lost court hearings and appealed in higher courts.
The court of appeals rejected the first two appeals in December.
The Bashkir assets include oil producer Bashneft, refineries Novoil, Ufimsky, Ufaorgsintez and Ufaneftekhim and retailer Bashkirnefteprodukt.
The assets were initially controlled by the government of the Urals region of Bashkortostan on behalf of Russia, but have changed hands many times in recent years.
Analysts say the Bashkir oil assets could eventually fall under the wing of state controlled companies - gas export monopoly Gazprom and oil producer Rosneft - as the state aims to further tighten its grip over its lucrative energy sector.