BP's Appeal Against $3B Russia Court Ruling Postponed

MOSCOW - A Russian court Friday postponed to Dec. 14 a hearing on BP PLC's appeal against a ruling ordering it to pay just over $3 billion in damages relating to its Russian venture TNK-BP, Russian news agencies reported. The hearing had been scheduled for Friday.

A court in Siberia ruled in July that BP caused damage to TNK-BP, a joint venture between the British company and a group of Soviet-born tycoons, when it sought an alliance last year with state-controlled OAO Rosneft without involving TNK-BP. BP's partners blocked that alliance in separate legal proceedings in the U.K. and are seeking damages from BP through arbitration.

Rosneft said last month that it had agreed to buy TNK-BP from BP and its partners, known as the AAR group, for a total of $55 billion in cash and shares.

The case in Siberia was brought by minority shareholders in TNK-BP's listed subsidiary, TNK-BP Holding.

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