MOSCOW, January 23 (RAPSI) - Moscow refuses to recognize the legitimacy of a resolution to sell a building that belongs to the Russian Trade Mission in Sweden as it could have an adverse impact on bilateral relations, Swedish Ambassador to Russia Veronika Bard-Bringéus was told when she was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding the resolution made in Stockholm to hold a forced auction sale of the building on February 18.

“Russia is seriously concerned about the decision to hold a forced auction sale of the Russian Trade Mission building in Stockholm on February 18 based on a 2011 order of the Supreme Court of Sweden in the lawsuit of German businessman Franz Sedelmayer versus the Russian Federation,” the foreign ministry stated.

Franz Sedelmayer has been in a dispute with the Russian Federation for many years. He has been demanding compensation for damage caused when he attempted to start a business in St. Petersburg in the 1990s. On July 1, 2011, the Supreme Court of Sweden ruled that the diplomatic property of Russia in the country, including the residential building of the Russian Trade Mission in Sweden, should be seized and put up for auction in favor of Sedelmayer. However, the building of the current trade mission in Sweden has diplomatic immunity.