MOSCOW, October 20 (RAPSI) – Russian pipeline operator Transneft has filed an appeal against reversal of a ruling saying that the company’s derivative contract worth 66.5 billion rubles (about $1.1 billion) with the Russian largest bank Sberbank was illicit, RAPSI learnt in the Moscow District Commercial Court on Friday.

On August 30, the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Sberbank and vacated the decision of the Moscow Commercial Court of June 21.

At that time, the Moscow Commercial Court annulled a derivatives deal the parties made yet in December 2013 and said Sberbank had to return to Transneft 66.5 billion rubles ($1.1 billion) rubles because the transaction was invalid.

The court said that Sberbank failed to disclose all relevant information about the deal terms and the mechanism of its implementation to Transneft thus rendering the oil pipeline operator unable to evaluate the possible outcomes of the deal. The first-instance court ruled that the amount was an "excess profit" for Sberbank, which needed to be compensated.