MOSCOW, November 26 - RAPSI. The Moscow City Court has validated the opening of a criminal case against former TNK-BP CEO Igor Lazurenko, his attorney Vladimir Aniskin told RAPSI on Monday.

Lazurenko's appeal was dismissed. He had asked the court to invalidate the ruling to open a case against him on the abuse of power.

The case was initiated on July 23 by TNK-BP in the interests of TransOil.

The attorney said TNK-BP assessed its losses from Lazurenko's actions at over 1 million rubles ($32,120).

The attorney said the law was violated numerously during the filing of the case. Specifically, investigators made a mistake while writing the name "TransOil" in the case materials.

The defendant said the mistake was made because the ruling was rushed as TNK-BP began to file lawsuits against the former top manager with the London High Court of Justice.

The High Court of Justice then concluded that the case falls within the competence of the Russian judicial system, thus refusing to consider TNK-BP's claims.

The court subsequently froze the bank accounts of Lazurenko, his wife, and several offshore companies, containing a total of 39 million euros.

Earlier, Lazurenko said he has evidence that acts of corruption were committed by TNK-BP top management, including CEO German Khan and Russian officials.