MOSCOW, October 15 – RAPSI. The Moscow Commercial Court has held against RosGas in its claim against Cypriot Mabofi Holdings Ltd. to reverse an arbitration tribunal’s decision on the sale for $1 of Emfesz, a Hungarian gas trading company, the court told RAPSI.

The arbitral decision was rendered by the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICAC).

In 2009, Emfesz head Istvan Gozzi sold his company to Switzerland-based RosGas AG for the symbolic price of $1 without notifying Emfesz’ real owner. The company was purchased by Gozzi’s deputy Tamas Gazda, who then represented RosGas. At the time of the transaction, Emfesz was wholly owned by Mabofi Holdings Ltd, a company controlled by Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash.

The Hungarian courts then quashed the sale in a number of litigations and the ICAC upheld their judgments on March 15.

According to the plaintiff, the ICAC decision was not valid due to several procedural violations in the case. The plaintiff stressed that the court went beyond the relevant parameters of the issue in question. Additionally, he claimed that one of the arbitrators was involved in both judicial and legal practice, which constituted a conflict of interest. The plaintiff also claimed that during the hearing, ICAC did not pay sufficient attention to Gozzi’s position.

Mabofi Holdings Ltd argued that RosGas failed to point out precisely which legal provisions had been violated by the ICAC judgment, while the claims of procedural violations did not stand up as there are no regulations which prohibit combining legal practice and judicial work. The defendant said that RosGas had itself nominated the judges for the hearing. Mabofi Holdings Ltd. had wanted Gozzi to speak as a witness, but he did not appear before the court. The defendant’s lawyer, however, said that the ICAC decision did not affect Gozzi’s rights and he was not obliged to take part in the proceedings.