MOSCOW, March 30 - RAPSI. The St. Petersburg Commercial Court has postponed on Friday until May 18 its hearing of the Rostelecom minority shareholders' lawsuit against the board's approval of the employee stock ownership plan.

In June, the Rostelecom board of directors approved amendments to the long-term employee stock ownership plan by launching an additional stock option program to be implemented based on 39.555 million preferred shares deposited in a Mobitel (99,99-percent Rostelecom subsidiary) account. The program scope is 3.5 billion rubles ($119.5 million).

Rostelecom minority shareholders Oleg Ashurkov and Sergei Boltenkov deem the board resolution invalid as it was never discussed at the general shareholders meeting.

Both maintain that the shareholders rights were violated because they have been barred from the discussion and the decision-making process on fee amounts and payments to board members depending on their performance. Thus, the shareholders cannot have their say in the appraisal of the board's contribution, the plaintiffs said.

Rostelecom is a major telecommunications operator.