MOSCOW, June 25 - RAPSI. An appeals court has registered the Istok distillery's complaint against the court ruling declaring it bankrupt.

The plaintiff contested the April 27 commercial court judgment that deemed Istok bankrupt upon the tax authority’s request.

The court placed the company under bankruptcy administration until October 18 and approved Nikolay Kokordia as its administrator.

In December 2010, the chairman of Istok's board stated that his company would overcome its financial turmoil within four years if its primary lender, Sberbank, restructured its 2.4 billion ruble ($71.6 million) debt.

Earlier, the head of Ossetia stated in a press release that the republic planned to spare no expense to save the distillery, which used to be major Russian alcohol beverages producer and the leader in the Russian sparkling wines market.

The press release said the company’s overdue 700 million rubles ($21 million) in liabilities prompted the tax authority to apply for Istok’s bankruptcy.