Rosneft Agrees Out-Of-Court Settlement With Sistema

Rosneft Oil Co. (ROSN.MZ) said Wednesday that it and Bashneft have agreed an out-of-court settlement with Sistema JSFC (AFKS.MZ) and that the defendants will pay 100 billion Russian Rubles ($1.7 million) compensation to Bashneft.

The voluntary settlement was signed by all the parties of the lawsuit on the compensation of damages from Bashneft's reorganization, the Russian oil major said. It added that the settlement has been approved by the Bashkortostan Republic Arbitration court.

The companies have been embroiled in a number of legal disputes over Sistema's stewardship of Bashneft from when it acquired the company in 2009 until it was returned to state ownership by court decision in 2014.

Rosneft alleged that Sistema stripped Bashneft of its assets, leaving it unable to operate.

Sistema disputed this account, and said that it was restructuring Bashneft and preparing it for an initial public offering. It maintained that Rosneft and Bashneft were deliberately trying to bankrupt the company to enrich themselves.

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 27, 2017 02:46 ET (07:46 GMT)