Transneft must hand over board minutes to Navalny
MOSCOW. July 28 (Interfax) - Moscow District Federal Arbitration Court on Thursday upheld a previous ruling that Transneft must hand over a copy of its board minutes to minority shareholder Alexei Navalny.
Transneft had appealed the earlier decision.
The court also revoked the suspension of the ruling's implementation, which was imposed in mid-July.
A Transneft spokesman at the court said he supported the appeal, adding that the ruling had been made in violation of procedural law. The company has not yet received any documents to confirm that Navalny is a shareholder, he said.
The company asked for the ruling to be cancelled and for the case to be reviewed again.
A representative for Navalny said the appeal could not be satisfied and asked for the ruling to remain in force.
Transneft Press Secretary Igor Demin told Interfax that the company has yet to receive the court's reasons for the judgment. This should arrive in five days.
"But there are certain grounds to consider this situation ambiguous. The day before yesterday, in similar conditions and in similar cases, the court ruled in the reverse. After retaining lawyers the company is studying the reasons for judgement, and with a great degree of likelihood we will be appealing to the High Arbitration Court," Demin said.
As reported, the Moscow District Federal Arbitration Court stayed a Ninth Arbitration Appeals Court ruling obligating Transneft to hand over copies of the minutes to Navalny in mid-July.
The Ninth Arbitration Appeals Court had in April upheld a ruling by Moscow Arbitration Court which ordered Transneft to give Navalny the minutes.
Together with its appeal, Transneft filed a motion to suspend implementation of the ruling until the appeals hearing, which was initially declined by the court.
In the first review of the case, Moscow Arbitration Court proposed an amicable agreement between the parties. Navalny was ready to accept that and to sign a confidentiality agreement agreeing not to disclose the information in the minutes to any third parties.
Navalny had already petitioned the court on various occasions asking that Transneft be forced to provide information about company activities. In July 2010 Moscow Arbitration Court declined to hear one such lawsuit.
