LONDON, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - A British court on Tuesday refused to grant an injunction against Rosneft which would have blocked the Russian oil giant's initial public offering in London.

Rival company Yukos sought the injunction on the grounds that 70% of Rosneft's value came from the forced sale of its own core assets and that the floatation would therefore amount to money laundering under Britain's Proceeds of Crime Act.

The state-owned Russian group became the nation's No. 3 crude producer after embattled Yukos had its main production unit - Yuganskneftegaz - sold off to pay huge back tax bills.

With its value put at $79.8 billion and the price of its shares at $7.55, Rosneft's IPO is expected to bring in $10.4 billion, and will be the largest in the Russian corporate history.

The company will have 13% of its stock (1.38 billion shares) formally listed on the London Stock Exchange and Russian bourses Wednesday.