Sistema: Rosneft Lawsuits Merely Offset Bashneft Costs
Russia's Sistema said on Thursday state oil company Rosneft was using lawsuits against the conglomerate to offset the cost of Rosneft acquiring mid-sized oil company Bashneft.
The company has had no talks with Rosneft about an amicable settlement of the legal dispute, a spokesman for Sistema said, after Rosneft filed a new, $2.2 billion claim for damages against Sistema.
"There've only been ultimatums by the claimant to pay the sum in full, which certainly cannot be considered as a constructive position and readiness for an amicable agreement," Sergei Kopytov said.
"Obviously, by pumping out groundless multibillion lawsuits, Rosneft is just trying to compensate the costs of (buying) Bashneft, in other words, get the asset for free, at Sistema's expense," he added.
Reporting by Anastasia Teterevleva
