MOSCOW, June 25 (RAPSI) - Gazprombank has filed a cassation appeal against an appellate ruling upholding the Federal Antimonopoly Service's (FAS) refusal to approve its planned acquisition of 50.9% of the Moscow United Electric Grid Company (MOESK), the Moscow Commercial Court told RAPSI on Tuesday.
In December 2012, the Moscow Commercial Court upheld Gazprombank's lawsuit against the service's refusal to grant it permission to buy the assets on July 6, 2012 and ordered the service to honor Gazprombank's legitimate rights and interests.
The regulator said its decision was influenced by several factors, such as the bank's affiliation with Gazprom, which owns 41.73% of the voting shares in Gazprombank.
The service holds that this transaction would combine the power distribution business with the power generation business under a single entity, Gazprom, in contravention of the law.
The court said in its ruling that the regulator did not prove that Gazprombank's takeover of 50.9% of MOESK's voting shares in trust management would limit competition on the electricity market.
The service claimed that the bank had not disclosed all requisite information in full. The court, however, ruled that the regulator failed to indicate which documents Gazprombank failed to provide.
MOESK is Russia's largest electric grid company, serving Moscow and the Moscow Region.