RWE AG DUESSELDORF Germany (Reuters) - A German regional court has scheduled a first hearing in a multi-million euro dispute between German utility RWE (>> RWE AG) and Russian energy firm Sintez, a court spokesman said on Thursday.
The hearing will take place on Feb. 12, 2015, said the spokesman for the regional court in the western German city of Essen, where RWE is based, confirming a report in monthly Manager Magazin.
Sintez, which is controlled by Russian tycoon Leonid Lebedev, originally filed the lawsuit against RWE and its former Chief Executive Juergen Grossmann in 2012, claiming 675 million euros (539.93 million pounds) in damages, the court had said at the time.
A spokesman for Sintez on Thursday said the claims were about 700 million euros.
Sintez is claiming damages from RWE for the German group's decision in 2008 to drop a plan to buy Russian electricity generator TGK-2 (>> TGK-2 OAO) jointly with Sintez.
RWE had originally partnered with Sintez in the 2008 deal to buy TGK-2, but then pulled out, citing the global economic crisis.
"As a result, Sintez has suffered substantial losses," the Sintez spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for RWE said the claims were unfounded.
"Under no conceivable point of view is there entitlement to damage claims against RWE or Mr Grossmann," she said.
(Reporting by Anneli Palmen in Duesseldorf, Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow; editing by Keiron Henderson)
