The arbitration tribunal of Moscow has sustained a case of Mikhail Renzhin, who claimed for compensation of 24 million rubles (about $968 thousand) after he had been stolen 95.2 thousand shares of Gazprom. The plaintiff wanted Gazporm and CJSC SR-Draga, a registrar, to cover the payout.
      
      Mikhail Renzhin exchanged 68 vouchers for the shares of Gazprom in 1994. Later in 2000 the shares were deducted from his bank account and passed to Gorizont Company, while the documents were signed by a supposedly Renzhin’s representative.
      
      The plaintiff discovered the loss only in March of 2006. When a criminal case was instituted, it turned out that the shares were deducted under forged documents. That time nobody was found guilty and the court had to suspend the proceedings.
      
      In May of 2007 the plaintiff filed another claim asking for compensation of the trading value of his shares, 401.7 thousand rubles ($14 thousand) of lost profits as dividends (in 2001-2005) and 1 million rubles (about $35 thousand) for moral damage.
      
      In the course of the hearings the representatives from the both companies tried to assure the court that the plaintiff had sold his shares himself. Particularly they said that Mikhail Renzhin had neither visited any shareholders’ meetings nor asked for dividends in the period of 2000-2006. However, the judge noticed that the name of Gorizont Company, which got hold of the plaintiff’s shares, was mentioned in other cases of stealing Gazprom’s shares.
      
      Surprisingly the court for the first time ever has bound the biggest gas monopolist to pay damages to its shareholder.
      
      Another high profile case was filed by Russian Company Rosgazifikatsia, which wanted its damages caused by deduction of 50 million Gazprom’s shares to be covered. Despite the fact that the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation gave instructions to recover damages against the issuer on 20 February of 2006, the case is still unfinished
      source:
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