MOSCOW, June 26 (RAPSI) – Solvex Turne, a major travel agency in St. Petersburg that is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, has filed a lawsuit to collect 252.9 million rubles ($4.6mln) in compensation from air carrier Aeroflot, according to the Moscow Commercial Court’s records.

Solvex Turne has asked the court to terminate its agreement with Aeroflot and to collect 252.9 million rubles ($4.6mln) in compensation.

On February 17, a commercial court ruled that the travel agency’s operation be monitored. The travel agency owes creditors 364.1 million rubles ($6.7mln) or much more than the value of its assets, which have been assessed at 210 million rubles ($3.85mln), the Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region said.

The press office of the VSK Insurance House released a statement on October 17, 2014 saying that it had begun compensating the clients of Solvex Turne after it suspended operations. The total amount of compensation was estimated at over 259 million rubles ($4.7mln). VSK has received over 4,000 compensation claims.

In early September 2014, Solvex Turne announced the suspension of operations “due to the inability to honor its commitments to its clients.” At that time, about 9,000 people were abroad on Solvex Turne vouchers.

Since mid-summer 2014, over a dozen Russian travel companies have ceased operations, including Neva, Roza Vetrov Mir, Expo Tour, Labirint, Intaer, Solvex Turne, Yuzhny Krest, and Versa.

According to the Russian Union of the Travel Industry (RUTI), about 130,000 people were affected by the suspended operations of travel agencies from July to September 2014.