MOSCOW, February 13 - RAPSI. The court has postponed until March 12 its hearing of renowned whistleblower Alexei Navalny's lawsuit against Rosneft over corporate documents.

The Moscow Commercial Court is hearing two Navalny lawsuits seeking copies of oil supply contracts between Rosneft and China and the 2009 minutes of Rosneft annual board meeting. The court heard the two claims separately, but consolidated them into one proceeding in January.

The litigation has been continuing for over a year and was conducted on three levels. Rosneft stated in court that its board enjoys two types of competence - statutory and extended - and minority shareholders are not entitled to receive documents concerning extended competence.

The Federal Service for Financial Markets was also involved in the case. The watchdog issued an order to Rosneft in July 2010 to eliminate violations related to submitting the documents to Navalny.

In April 2011, Navalny asked Rosneft for the copies of seven contracts concluded as part of a major oil supply deal with China. He later submitted a similar request to the company in October 2011. The requested documents include contracts on a $15 billion loan issued to Rosneft by the China Development Bank and a contract on crude supplies to the China National Petroleum Corporation for 20 years.

The transactions were approved by Rosneft's general shareholder's meeting on June 19, 2009. Navalny filed a lawsuit as he believes that the treaties were concluded on unfavorable terms that do not correspond to the market environment.

Russia has been supplying oil to China from the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Oil pipeline since January 1, 2010. Pursuant to the Russian-Chinese intergovernmental agreement, the oil is to be supplied under contracts between Rosneft, Transneft and the China National Petroleum Corporation for 20 years, at the amount of 15 million tons per year. According to the agreement, the buyer must pay the market price for the oil supplied via the pipeline.