MOSCOW, October 25 - RAPSI. The Eighth Commercial Court of Appeals has postponed until November 9 the consideration of BP Russian Investment Limited's appeal against the court ruling to award 100.4 billion rubles ($3.21 billion) to TNK-BP Holding minority shareholder Andrei Prokhorov, the court spokesperson told RAPSI on Thursday.

The appeal's consideration has been postponed, as the parties need time to familiarize themselves with additional materials in the case.

Additionally, the appeal submitted by TNK-BP Limited directors David Keith Peattie, Brian Gilvary and Lord George Robertson will be considered on the same day.

The Tyumen Regional Commercial Court partially upheld Prokhorov's claims on August 6. He had filed a lawsuit for 288 billion rubles ($9.22 billion) in damages against BPRI and BP plc.

The legal action stems from allegations that BP PLC and its subsidiary BP Russian Investments Limited, acting as TNK-BP Limited shareholders, forced their boards to turn down a proposal by TNK-BP Holding to engage in a strategic partnership with Rosneft and purchase its shares. This lost opportunity allegedly inflicted losses on the TNK-BP Holding.

Prokhorov believes that if TNK-BP had become a member of the strategic partnership between the two companies, then under a swap agreement it would have purchased 1.01 billion common shares in Rosneft, which in turn would have increased in value and brought higher profits to TNK-BP. Therefore, he maintains that the difference between the current fair price of the shares and the price at which TNK-BP would have acquired the stake in the swap was lost profit.