MOSCOW, December 22 (RAPSI) – The Moscow Commercial Court has granted a motion on Monday to lift seizure of shares in Bashneft oil company, RAPSI reports from the courtroom on Monday.

On September 25, the Moscow court seized 122,9 million regular and 6,1 priority Bashneft bonds, owned by AFK Sistema and its subsidiary Sistema-Invest. The court also prohibited any changes to the Bashneft shareholder registry.

On October 30, the court ruled in favor of nationalizing the stake. On December 8, the ruling became effective.

First Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman filed a motion seeking to lift seizure of shares on December 16.

Bashneft was controlled by the government of Russia’s Bashkortostan region until 2003, when a major stake was sold to companies affiliated with Ural Rakhimov, son of the former head of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov. The company was privatized in 2009 when Russian oil-to-telecoms conglomerate AFK Sistema gained control of it.

Investigators opened a criminal case in April linked to deals with Bashneft shares in 2002 to 2009.

Rakhimov and billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov were implicated in the sale of Bashneft stock in 2009. Rakhimov was charged in absentia with embezzlement and money laundering, put on the international wanted list.

Yevtushenkov, the Sistema board chairman, was placed under house arrest as well. On December 17, he was released on the condition of honoring investigation summons, according to his lawyer Vladimir Kozin.