MOSCOW, June 8 - RAPSI. Rosneft minority shareholder Alexei Navalny has submitted an appeal against the dismissal of his lawsuit to see company documents, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Friday.

Navalny has disputed the decision of the Moscow Commercial Court of May 14 in the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals. The date to hear the appeal has yet to be set.

The court of first instance dismissed two of Navalny's claims to grant him access to the company's contracts for supplying oil to China, as well as the Rosneft board of directors' protocols for 2009.

Initially, the claims were considered in separate proceedings, but in January the court united them into one.

The litigation has continued for over a year and has been conducted on three levels. Rosneft has stated in court that its board has two levels of authority - statutory and extended - and minority shareholders are not entitled to receive documents of extended authorization.

The Federal Service for Financial Markets has also been involved in the case. The watchdog issued an order to Rosneft in July 2010 to rectify its violations in denying Navalny the documents.

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. The documents include contracts on 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.

The transactions were approved by Rosneft on June 19, 2009. Navalny filed a lawsuit as he believes the treaties were concluded on unfavorable market terms.

Russia has supplied oil to China via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Oil pipeline since January 1, 2010. As per a Russia-China intergovernmental agreement, the oil will be supplied for 20 years according to the terms in contracts signed by Rosneft, Transneft and the China National Petroleum Corporation, at the amount of 15 million metric tons per year. The agreement states that the buyer must pay the market price for the oil.