MOSCOW, November 26 - RAPSI. RosGas has filed an appeal against the dismissal of the ruling issued by the Russian Chamber of Commerce's International Commercial Arbitration Court on the unlawfulness of the sale of the Hungarian Emfesz gas trader for $1, the Moscow Commercial Court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Monday.

In October, the Moscow Commercial Court dismissed RosGas's application against the Cypriot Mabofi Holdings Ltd.

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

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

According to the plaintiff, the International Commercial Arbitration Court's 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 said one of the arbitrators was involved in both the judicial and legal practice, which constituted a conflict of interest. The plaintiff also claimed that the International Commercial Arbitration Court did not pay due attention to Gozzi's position.

Meanwhile, Mabofi Holdings Ltd. argued that RosGas failed to point out the legal provisions that had been violated by the ruling, while the procedural violation claims did not stand up to criticism as there are no regulations prohibiting combining the legal and the judicial practice.

The defendant said RosGas itself had 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 said the International Commercial Arbitration Court's decision did not affect Gozzis rights and he was not obliged to take part in the proceedings.

After considering RosGas's application, the court did not find any grounds to dismiss the court ruling.

The Swiss RosUkrEnergo AG, in which Gazprom holds a 50 percent stake and the Centragas Holding AG, owned by Firtash and Ivan Fursin, holds another 50 percent, was excluded from gas supply schemes in early 2009 when Gazprom and Naftogaz of Ukraine signed long-term contracts on January 19, 2009 after a three-week gas war.

Eventually, Emfesz, which supplied gas to Ukraine, Hungary, Poland and Romania, stopped receiving fuel from RosUkrEnergo AG.