Russia nears renationalising Bashkir oil assets

MOSCOW, March 11 (Reuters) - A Moscow court upheld on Tuesday an earlier decision to return most of the $7 billion oil assets previously owned by private companies based in the Urals region of Bashkortostan to the state.

Vyacheslav Kuleshov, one of the lawyers of the assets' current owners, told Reuters a court of appeal confirmed the decision over the third of the four lawsuits, brought by the Federal Tax Service against the owners.

"The decision was quite predictable," Kuleshov said.

He said on Tuesday the court postponed the hearing over the fourth appeal until March 18, which, if also rejected, would end the process of renationalising the assets, which include a mid-sized oil producer, four refineries and a retail firm.

The present owners of the assets are four little-known firms -- Agidel-Invest, Inzer-Invest, Yuryuzan-Invest and Ural-Invest - all of which have lost court hearings and appealed in higher courts.

The court of appeals rejected the first two appeals in December.

The Bashkir assets include oil producer Bashneft BANE.RTS, refineries Novoil NUNZI.RTS, Ufimsky UNPZI.RTS, Ufaorgsintez UFOS.RTS and Ufaneftekhim UFNC.RTS and retailer Bashkirnefteproduct BANPI.RTS.

The assets were initially controlled by the government of the Urals region of Bashkortostan on behalf of Russia, but have changed hands many times in recent years.

Analysts say the Bashkir oil assets could eventually fall under the wing of state controlled companies - gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) and oil major Rosneft (ROSN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) - as the state aims to further tighten its grip over its lucrative energy sector. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, writing by Tanya Mosolova; editing by James Jukwey)