Dmitry Magonya commented on Rosneft’s decision to increase the amount of its claims against AFK Sistema

The electronic system kad.arbitr.ru reported that Rosneft clarified the amount of its claim against AFK Sistema, which Vladimir Evtushenkov owns, in a case that Rosneft filed on 23 May with the Arbitration Court of Bashkiria. Mikhail Leontyev, a representative of Rosneft, clarified that the demanded amount increased to 170.6 billion RUB as a result of the recalculation of the value of the ruble. In early May, Rosneft and Bashneft originally demanded that Sistema and its subsidiary, Sistema-Invest, pay 106.6 billion RUB. According to the plaintiffs, Bashneft lost this amount during the 2013-2014 reorganization of the company’s ownership.

A representative of Sistema stated, “We also said that the previous amount of the claim was absolutely unreasonable. 170.6 billion RUB! This is unscientific fiction.” The amount of the claim is likely final, but Rosneft does not rule out other claims against Sistema, as Leontiev told Interfax.

The plaintiff has the right to increase or decrease the amount of claims as much as necessary, but only in the first instance and only before the court makes its decision, according to Dmitry Magonya, the managing partner of ART DE LEX. Magonya explained that “an increase in claims means an increase in the amount of the original demand.”