RusEnergy

HOT 17.06.2005 11:46 MSK MosNews - It was reported on Friday, June 17, that the Arbitration Court of Stockholm ruled that the Moscow Oil Refinery should pay more than $28 million in losses and fines to the Joy Lud International Distributors Inc (JLID), which belongs to U.S. businessman Tamir Sapir. The news was reported by the Interfax agency, which quoted the U.S. company's lawyer Larisa Ryabchenko. According to her, the court's decision was made on June 14. Nikolai Frolov, the press secretary of Moscow Oil and Gas Company which owns 38 percent of the refinery's shares confirmed that the court made such a ruling but declined to comment on the issue. JLID sued the Moscow Oil Refinery in the international court on claims of a failed contract that was signed in 1995 on orders from the Russian government. The Moscow Oil Refinery received quotas for the export of diesel fuel and black oil fuel. The proceeds from sales were to be used for the construction of a polypropylene processing complex. Under this scheme JLID served as the purchaser of oil products. After the shares of the Moscow Oil Refinery, which belonged to the state, were transferred into the ownership of the Central Fuel Company created by the Moscow government, the deliveries of oil products diminished and then ceased altogether in 1999. Larisa Ryabchenko said the claim that was submitted by the U.S. company to the Stockholm Arbitration Court, JLID listed six different methods for recovery of damages from the Moscow Oil Refinery. She also added that over the course of the hearings the refinery had already paid a duty of $150,000, thus agreeing to the Stockholm court's right to make a ruling on this case. "If the Moscow Oil Refinery fails to execute the court's decision voluntarily, we will have to file a suit in the Moscow Arbitration Court to force the refinery to execute the decisions of the international court". Meanwhile, as JLID's lawyer reported, the Moscow Arbitration Court is already considering a lawsuit that was filed by the Moscow Oil and Gas Company, Sibneft Oil Company (which owns 38.5 percent of the refinery's shares), the Central Fuel Company (which is the shareholder of the Moscow Oil and Gas Company) and Phoenix which demand that the contract with JLID be declared invalid. The plaintiffs claim $176 million for "allegedly unpaid oil" and another $141 million in fines from the U.S. company. Larisa Ryabchenko said that the claim will be examined on June 22.