MOSCOW, October 29 - RAPSI. The Moscow District Federal Commercial Court will hear opposition leader Alexei Navalny's appeal of the courts' refusals to require Rosneft to provide him with the company's documents, a court representative told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) Monday.

In May, the court dismissed his lawsuit to force the company to produce copies of its oil supply contracts with China and the minutes of its 2009 board meetings. The claims were first considered in separate proceedings, but the court merged them in January.

The dispute over whether Rosneft must provide the minutes to Navalny passed through courts in three instances and proceeded for over two years.

All the courts ruled that the minority shareholder had the right to review the documents, but the dispute was returned to the first instance court to define which data Rosneft will be permitted to redact from the protocols in accordance with its regulations on confidential information.

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. Among the requested documents are contracts for 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 (CNPC).

The transactions were approved by Rosneft on June 19, 2009. Navalny filed the lawsuit as he believes the treaties were not concluded on an arm's length basis.

Russia has supplied oil to China via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Oil pipeline since January 1, 2010. In accordance with a Russian-Chinese intergovernmental treaty, the oil will be supplied for 20 years based on contracts signed by Rosneft, Transneft and CNPC, in the amount of 15 million metric tons per year. The treaty states that the buyer will pay the market price for the oil.