MOSCOW, November 8 - RAPSI, Dmitry Shchitov. An appellate court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Auchan and Atac retailers against the antimonopoly service, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reported from the courtroom on Tuesday.

The Auchan international retail group was established in 1961 by Gerard Mulliez. It runs over 1,200 outlets in 13 countries. Auchan has operated in Russia since 2002, where it has 25 Auchan megastores, 13 Auchan City megastores, two Auchan Garden stores and two Raduga (Rainbow) stores as of June 2010.

Atac comprises the Atac and Simply Market supermarket chains and is an Auchan subsidiary. It operates in France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Russia.

Auchan and Atac have challenged the antimonopoly watchdog's November 2010 resolution that they had created discriminatory conditions through contracts executed with bakeries.

The antimonopoly service decided that the retailers violated trade law after it discovered that their contracts contravened legislation.

The Moscow Commercial Court held against the retailers' lawsuit on August 12. However, the companies appealed the judgment.