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Rosneft to appeal against court’s decision on company’s claim to RBC media holding

Under the court’s decision, the journalists of RBC and RBC TV must refute the article, which was disputed by Rosneft, within 10 days

MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Rosneft will appeal against the decision of the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal, which declared partial satisfaction of a claim on protection of honor, dignity and business reputation of Rosneft filed against the RBC media holding and three of its reporters as illegal, the company’s Vice President and press secretary Mikhail Leontiev told TASS.

"Of course, we will appeal against t. Is simply impossible not to challenge such a decision, we are not satisfied with it, we will seek a legal solution," he said.

Under the court’s decision, the journalists of RBC and RBC TV must refute the article, which was disputed by Rosneft, within 10 days. The court released defendants from the financial penalty worth 390,000 rubles ($6,673).

This decision came into force on Wednesday, March 1, and became binding.

The lawsuit was prompted by an article posted on the RBC’s website in April and titled: "Sechin requests government to protect Rosneft from BP." The article said that Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin was requesting the government to limit the rights of the buyers of the company’s shares slated for sale, fearing that BP might gain a blocking stake during privatization of Rosneft’s 19.5% share package.

Rosneft wanted the court to oblige defendants to pay more than 3 bln rubles ($48.5 mln) and to publish a refutation.

The judge obliged the Holding to delete the disputed publication and to publish a refutation and to compensate court costs to the plaintiff. The court also recovered 390,000 rubles ($6,305) from RBK as compensation.

Earlier, RBC representative said that the media holding intends to appeal the court's decision. The decision on the lawsuit of Rosneft was issued on December 12.