MOSCOW, September 30 - RAPSI, Natalia Belova. The court will hear on November 17 a defamation lawsuit filed by billionaire Alexander Lebedev and his National Reserve Bank (NRB) against the Kommersant publisher, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reports from the courtroom.

The plaintiff seeks 11 million rubles ($393,000) in damages.

The court held a preliminary hearing on Friday and will consider the case on its merits. The defendants' representatives did not attend the session.

NRB and Lebedev filed four defamation lawsuits against Kommersant this summer. Their actions were provoked by the newspaper's allegations that NRB was under investigation due to the embezzlement of public funds allocated for the Rosiisky Capital bank's bailout. The lawsuit is based on a March 4 story titled, "NRB returns profits to shareholders."

The hearings of two other lawsuits are set for October 5 and 27. One more defamation lawsuit for 10 million rubles ($314,000) will be reviewed on November 7.

According to the National Reserve Bank website, the National Reserve Corporation (controlled by Lebedev) holds 59.83 percent of the bank.