The court declared illegal the decision on compensation from RBC in the case of Rosneft

The Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal declared illegal the decision on compensation in the amount of 390 thousand rubles, which RBC must pay according to the claim of Rosneft, and canceled it in full, RBC reports .

According to the court's decision, RBC must publish a refutation of information from the article and television program, recognized as defamatory and untrue, within ten days from the moment the decision comes into force. A refutation should also be aired on the RBC TV channel.

“We welcome the court’s decision to completely cancel the compensation,” lawyer Evgeny Reznik, representing RBC, commented on the results of the meeting.

At the meeting, Rosneft demanded to recover 3.179 billion rubles from RBC and co-defendants - journalists Timofey Dzyadko, Lyudmila Podobedova, Maxim Tovkaylo and Konstantin Bochkarev. Rosneft asked that the journalists’ financial capabilities not be taken into account, explaining that this should not allow them to evade responsibility.

The Moscow Arbitration Court made its previous decision on December 12, 2016; Mediazona broadcast online from that meeting. The state-owned company demanded a record 3.18 billion rubles as compensation for the article “Sechin asked the government to protect Rosneft from BP . ”

The court partially satisfied the claim, but awarded Rosneft 390 thousand rubles. Both sides appealed this decision: RBC insists on the complete absence of compensation, while Rosneft considers it too small.

“RBC is the largest holding company, its programs are broadcast in 40 countries, and its audience is businessmen who can be potential investors. For such a large company, this is too little compensation,” a representative of the state-owned company explained during the appeal.

The amount of compensation, as it became known later , was reduced due to the fact that the court decided not to take into account the expertise of the Center for Professional Assessment.

The publication that gave rise to the lawsuit alleged that the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, asked the government to oblige a potential participant in the privatization of the state-owned company not to enter into a shareholder agreement with BP, which owns 19.5% of Rosneft shares.

As the defendants insisted, the article did not lead to material damage, and the state company in its arguments referred to potential damage that cannot be recovered.

RBC’s position is set out in detail in the editorial material . Rosneft, among the risks that the publication entails for the state-owned company, listed “an increase in the overall level of company risks associated with interaction with counterparties” and estimated a drop in business reputation (goodwill) at 3.179 billion rubles.