MOSCOW, July 23 (RAPSI) – A Romanian court has fixed August 5 to hear an appeal filed by Russian oil firm Lukoil over an order issued by Ploiesti Prosecutor's Office to seize its assets, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday.

The attorney for Lukoil declined to comment on the news.

On July 8, Ploiesti prosecutors seized 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) worth of assets of Lukoil subsidiaries under a case on money laundering and tax evasion.

Last week, Lukoil appealed against the seizure of its assets in Romania, Thomas Mueller, Lukoil’s vice-president for oil refining, petrochemistry and gas processing, told journalists.

In October last year, Romanian prosecutors, police and customs inspectors searched the company’s offices as part of an investigation into the alleged $250 million (EUR 230 million) tax evasion and money laundering activities of the local head of Petrotel Lukoil S.A. and five other employees, including two Russian nationals. The company’s Romanian refinery briefly halted its operations.