MOSCOW, May 27 (RAPSI) - Rosneft President Igor Sechin filed a lawsuit earlier this month against the Russian version of Forbes and Komsomolskaya Pradva that demands a retraction of the statement that he is the highest-paid manager in Russia, Izvestia reports Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the misleading ranking was published in the 12th issue of Forbes in 2013. The top management income ranking claimed that in 2012, Sechin allegedly earned $50 million in total. The article also claimed that Sechin took out a loan from Gazprombank to buy Rosneft shares. Sechin denies UCP fund’s participation in the financial processes of the company (UCP President Ilya Shcherbovich is a member of Rosneft’s management board). He also denies Forbes’ claims that in 2012 and 2013 Sechin’s statements brought down TNK-BP stock prices – a company later acquired by Rosneft.

The suit claims that the authors of the ranking suggest there was collaboration between Sechin and Shcherbovich to bring down the share prices of TNK-BP and then buy them on the stock exchange in order to sell them later within a voluntary offer. The plaintiff reiterated that stock market manipulation or insider trading is a crime in Russia and therefore allegations that Sechin influenced the stock value casts a shadow on his reputation.

Komsomolskaya Pradva is a co-defendant in the case as it published the ranking on its website while citing Forbes.

Izvestia reports that Sechin filed the lawsuit two days after the Rosneft press service announced on May 13 that the company’s top management disclosed their respective incomes to the cabinet of ministers. The income report has not been published yet.