16 Jun 2010 15:00

Court rules against TNK-BP in suit seeking annulment of 921.6 in customs charges

MOSCOW. June 16 (Interfax) - Moscow arbitration court has rejected a suit TNK-BP filed against the Federal Customs Service (FCS) that sought to annul a December 16, 2009 order to pay 921.6 million rubles to the FCS, the court told journalists.

A TNK-BP spokesman said the company would appeal the ruling.

The money "represents interest that accumulated on 3.9 billion rubles in overpayments to the FCS that was not refunded in a timely fashion," a TNK-BP official told Interfax previously. TNK-BP won the suit it filed seeking return of the 3.9 billion rubles. The FCS lost its final appeal of the case in February 2010.

Earlier this month, TNK-BP won an appeal that annulled Moscow arbitration court's rejection of a lower court's order that the FCS pay the company 6.1 billion rubles in compensation and damages.

TNK-BP filed suit claiming that the regional customs officials had applied the wrong duty rate on the company's crude oil and product exports in 2006-2007.

"TNK-BP won analogous judgments for 8 billion rubles and 4 billion rubles that the FCS paid us last year. The company plans to continue cooperating constructively with the Federal Customs Service," the TNK-BP official said.

RTS$#&: TNBP