MOSCOW, March 25 - RAPSI. On April 3, the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals will resume the hearing of the appeal filed by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) against the reversal of its decision to decline Gazprombank's request to take over 50.9% of MOESK shares, the court told RAPSI.

MOESK is Russia's largest electric grid company, serving Moscow and the Moscow Region.

In December 2012, the Moscow Commercial Court upheld Gazprombank's lawsuit against the regulators refusal to grant it permission to buy Moscow United Electric Grid Company (MOESK) on July 6, 2012.

The court ordered the FAS to honor Gazprombank's legitimate rights and interests.

The regulator said that its decision to deny the bank the right to buy MOESK was influenced by several facts, including the bank's affiliation with Gazprom, which owns 41.73% of voting shares in Gazprombank.

The FAS holds that this transaction would combine the power distribution business with the power generation business under a single entity, Gazprom, in contravention of the law.

The court said in its ruling that the FAS had not proved that Gazprombank's takeover of 50.9% of MOESK's voting shares in trust management would limit competition in the electricity market.

The FAS had claimed that the bank had not disclosed all requisite information in full. The court, however, ruled that FAS failed to indicate which documents listed by the law on competition Gazprombank did not provide.

MOESK is Russia's largest electric grid company, serving Moscow and the Moscow Region.