Tatneft slashes claims against Ukraine by half - Justice Minister
KYIV. Feb 8 (Interfax) - Russian oil company OJSC Tatneft has reduced its legal claims against Ukraine in a dispute over oil refiner JSC Ukrtatnafta by half, Justice Minister Alexander Lavrinovich told reporters on Wednesday.
The parties are now arguing the case in international arbitration court, he said.
"At least the amount of Tatneft's lawsuit has already been reduced by half," Lavrinovich said.
Ukrtatnafta was founded on orders from the presidents of Ukraine and Tatarstan in 1994 on the basis of the Kremenchug Oil Refinery in Poltava Region. Companies close to Tatneft previously held 18.296% of shares in Ukrtatnafta, Tatarstan's Property Ministry owned 28.7788%, and Tatneft owned 8.6% directly.
Following litigation, the stake of the Tatar shareholders was reduced to virtually zero, and the refiner acquired new shareholders close to the Privat group.
Tatneft filed a $520 million lawsuit against Ukraine in international arbitration court in 2007. The claim was later increased to $2.4 billion.
The Russian and Ukrainian government have agreed to formalize negotiations on the return of Tatarstan's stake in Ukrtatnafta.