MOSCOW, September 25 - RAPSI. Alexei Navalny has appealed the court refusal to obligate Rosneft oil company to provide him with certain corporate documents, the Moscow Commercial Court spokesperson told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Tuesday.

In May the court dismissed his lawsuit which sought to compel the company to produce copies of its oil supply contracts with China and the minutes of its 2009 board meetings. The claims were first considered in separate proceedings, but the court then merged them in January.
The dispute over whether Rosneft ought to provide Navalny with the minutes passed through courts in three instances and went on for over two years.

All the courts ruled that the minority shareholder had the right to review the documents, but the dispute was returned to the first instance court to define which data Rosneft is allowed to delete from the protocols in accordance with its regulations on confidential information.

In April 2011, Navalny asked Rosneft for copies of seven contracts concluded as part of a major oil supply deal with China. He later submitted a similar request to the company in October. Among the requested documents are contracts for a $15 billion loan issued to Rosneft by the China Development Bank and a 20 year crude oil supply contract with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

The transactions were approved by Rosneft on June 19, 2009. Navalny filed the lawsuit as he believes the treaties were not concluded on an arm's length basis.

Russia has supplied oil to China via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Oil pipeline since January 1, 2010. In accordance with a Russian-Chinese intergovernmental treaty, the oil will be supplied for 20 years based on the contracts signed by Rosneft, Transneft and CNPC, in the amount of 15 million metric tons per year. The treaty states that the buyer will pay the market price for the oil.