Shares of Russian oil producer Bashneft were returned to the state on Monday, Itar Tass reported. Moscow’s Arbitration Court earlier ruled in favor of the Prosecutor General’s Office, which said that the privatization in the early 2000s of Bashneft was illegal. The company, which now ranks among Russia’s top-five oil refining companies, was owned by tycoon Vladimir Yevtushenkov’s AFK Sistema.