ARKHANGELSK, September 21 - RAPSI. The Arkhangelsk Region Court has reversed a ruling that would have reduced the sentence of former Menatep head Platon Lebedev to nine years and eight months from 13 years, RIA Novosti reported from the court.

The case has been submitted to the Velsk Court for reconsideration.

"We heard no convincing argument from the judge. Now we need to consider our next move, most likely we'll file an appeal against today's ruling with the Arkhangelsk Region Courts presidium," Alexei Miroshnichenko, Lebedev's attorney, told RIA Novosti.

Due to amendments to criminal legislation, on August 8, 2012 the Velsk Court ruled that Lebedev's sentence be reduced from 13 years to 9 years and eight months. The court ruling was disputed by the prosecutor's office and Lebedev's defense attorney.

The Velsk Court's ruling was disputed by both the prosecutor's office and Lebedev's defense. The prosecutor's office considers Lebedev's new sentence to be extremely mild, and that his sentence should be reduced to 11 years and three months.

The YUKOS case has been one of the most high profile in Russia over recent years. In the early 2000s, the authorities accused YUKOS executives Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev of financial crimes. YUKOS, then the country's largest oil company, went bankrupt and its assets were taken over by Rosneft. Many in the West believe the case was politically driven, although Moscow denies the charges.

In 2005, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud and tax evasion.