MOSCOW, February 6 (RAPSI) – The auction for the building of the Soviet Trade Mission in Cologne was won by a Russian representative, press secretary for Presidential Administration Viktor Khrekov told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

A lot on Friedrich-Engels-Straße 5, which situated a living quarters of the former USSR Trade Mission was auctioned off to pay the damages in the spat between Russia and a German businessman Franz Sedelmayer.

Khrekov confirmed that a bidder representing Russia won the auction, and that this was the last acution held as a part of the Sedelmayer lawsuit.

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, be seized and put up for auction in favor of Sedelmayer. However, the building of the current trade mission in Sweden has diplomatic immunity. The Swedish Ambassador was told by the Russian Foreign Ministry that Moscow will not recognize the decision as legitimate because it could have an adverse effect on bilateral relations.