MOSCOW, October 7 - RAPSI, Natalia Belova. A commercial court satisfied on Thursday the Culture Ministry's lawsuit against the state-run Soyuzmultfilm studio, , to terminate a public contract for the animated cartoon's financing, the Russian Legal Information agency (RAPSI) reported on Friday.

Soyuzmultfilm, the largest Russian studio of animated cartoons, was established in 1936. It annually produced more than 30 cartoons in the 1970s and ranked as the largest animated film studio in Europe.

Apart from the contract termination, the court ordered the animated film studio to pay the ministry back 4.8 million rubles ($148,000) plus 784,000 rubles ($6,000) in interest.

According to the statements made in court, the parties entered into a public contract for the animated cartoon's financing on March 26, 2008. Under the contract the ministry paid the defendant 4.8 million rubles. As the film studio never executed the contract, the ministry requested the contract termination in November 2010 and later went to court.

The studio's representatives have not appeared before the court.