MOSCOW, March 5 (RAPSI) - The Moscow Commercial Court has denied a motion from Ural Invest, a company under former Bashneft CEO Ural Rakhimov, to partially unfreeze assets – blocked upon a motion from Sistema – to allow the company to settle accounts with its partners and pay its employees, a RAPSI representative was told in courtroom.

The motion filed by Ural Invest did not provide sufficient grounds for approval because the injunction to freeze the assets is to remain in force until the court ruling on the hearing of the merits of the case takes effect, according to the court ruling.

Ural Invest filed a motion that its Uralsib bank assets be released to partially pay off its federal tax liability. Moreover, company representatives said they would use 3.5 million rubles ($56,600) each month to fulfil obligations to its business partners and employees.

On February 16, the Moscow Commercial Court ordered Ural Invest to pay 70.7 billion rubles (over $1 billion) to Sistema.

Rakhimov’s company sold about 71.6% of Bashneft shares to Sistema. Later, the share portfolio was seized by the state in a case filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Sistema sued Ural Invest to recover the damages caused by the transaction.

The February 16 Moscow Commercial Court ruling has not taken effect yet and can be appealed within a month.