MOSCOW, December 7 - RAPSI, Dmitry Shchitov. A commercial court of appeals upheld on Wednesday the lower court decision to recover $165 million from Moscow government and its developer for a Gazprom subsidiary, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reports from the courtroom.

In September the court ordered the Moscow government to repay to Gazpromipoteka mortgage fund 3.338 billion rubles ($107 million) earlier provided under an investment contract and 857 million rubles ($27.5 million) in interest. The developer then was obliged to repay 510.26 million rubles ($16 million) and pay interest amounting to 149.5 million rubles ($4.8 million).

The court also invalidated an investment contract between the Moscow government and its developer Novoye Koltso Moskvy dated October 23, 2007.

The Gazpromipoteka mortgage lending fund was established by Gazprom in 2007 to build housing for its employees.

Novoye Koltso Moskvy was founded by the Moscow authorities to implement its housing investment program until 2025. The program implied construction of 60 high-rise buildings, including 10 apartment buildings, 5 residential complexes, 17 administrative and business centers, 7 hotels and 15 multipurpose complexes.