MOSCOW, August 14 - RAPSI. The Moscow Commercial Court has dismissed Ingosstrakh minority shareholders' lawsuit to invalidate a decision on the board's composition, PPF Investments, which controls Ingosstrakh minorioty shareholders, told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Tuesday.

A new nine-member board was established at an Ingosstrakh general shareholders meeting in May. All of the board members represent the Basic Element holding, which controls Ingosstrakh and affiliated companies.

Ingosstrakh minority shareholders Vega, Novy Kapital (New Capital) and Investitsionnaya Initsiativa (Investment Initiative), as well as two private shareholders, submitted a lawsuit to the Moscow Commercial Court to invalidate the decision taken at the meeting.

Eventually, the court dismissed the lawsuit on August 13.

"We are shocked by the court decision and we cannot even imagine the arguments that the court used in issuing the ruling, as we did not hear any substantial arguments during the hearing," PPF Investments Media Relations Representative Yan Piskacek told RAPSI.

He added that it is difficult for the company to explain why the court reached the decision, as representatives of the Federal Service for Financial Markets had been present at the Ingosstrakh meeting and later stated that the law on joint-stock companies had been violated.

Ingosstrakh is a leading Russian insurance company operating on the international and domestic markets since 1947. The company has offices in 220 Russian cities and towns, as well as subsidiaries and representative offices abroad. Its authorized capital is 2.5 billion rubles. The Jersey-based PPF Investments holds a 38.46 percent stake in the company. The majority of the shareholders are companies affiliated with Basic Element.