OAO Rosneft, Russia’s state-run oil company that raised $10.4 billion in the country’s biggest stock sale, said rival OAO Yukos Oil Co. submitted an application on July 24 to appeal a U.K. court’s decision to reject its request to stop Rosneft’s listing on the London Stock Exchange. “If the Court of Appeal grants the application, the Financial Services Authority, the London Stock Exchange and Rosneft will have an opportunity to make submissions to the Court of Appeal to reject Yukos’ appeal and uphold the lower court’s decision,” Rosneft said in a Regulatory News Service statement yesterday. “Rosneft believes that even if the Court of Appeal were to grant the application, Yukos’ appeal would have no merit.” Yukos says its main asset, OAO Yuganskneftegaz, was unlawfully seized by the Russian government and sold to Rosneft for a fraction of its value. Rosneft maintains it acted within the law and that the lawsuit was intended to cause embarrassment. Rosneft had the world’s sixth-largest public offering this month on the back of its rising production, thanks mostly to Yuganskneftegaz. (Bloomberg)