Moscow court freezes sale of 100% in SG-Trans on request of Rosneft structure
MOSCOW. Oct 5 (Interfax) - The City of Moscow's Arbitrage Court has prohibited LLC Renaissance Broker, the agent in the privatization of OJSC SG-Trans, from implementing any actions for the sale of 100% in SG-Trans after reviewing CJSC RN-Trans' (a subsidiary of Rosneft) lawsuit, the court said in its situation.
For instance, the court has prohibited LLC Renaissance Broker from "drawing up a protocol of negotiations and send them to participants, and compiling an agent's report on the possible shares buyers, their offers for price and number of shares, and sending it to Russia's Economic Development Ministry and Rosimushchestvo [Federal Property Service]."
A tender took place on September 27 for the sale of a 100% state stake in SG-Trans. OJSC AFK Sistema won the tender after offering 22.7 billion rubles.
Neither Sistema nor Rosneft have commented to Interfax on the court's decision. Furthermore, Renaissance Broker still has not answered Interfax's enquires.
On the same day, RN-Trans filed an action against Renaissance Broker, demanding that protective measures be applied in order to prevent the agent from pursuing any action, which is intended for the sale of SG-Trans shares.
The court materials said that RN-Trans considers Renaissance Broker's actions to restrict the involvement of parties affiliated with organizations in which the Russian Federation has an interest to be illegal. For instance, RN-Trans demands Renaissance Broker's qualification requirements to be declared illegal. As a result, RN-Trans requests protective measures to prevent the privatization prior to a final court decision.
Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) approved RN-Trans to acquire 100% in the railway operator in April.
SG-Trans is the largest railway operator in Russia that transports, stores and sells liquefied gas. It operates in 20 Russian regions and has a fleet of 16,000 tankers, 12 liquefied gas sales branches (including a storage base), and 59 gas refueling stations. Rosimushchestvo owns 100% in the enterprise.