Moscow, April 21 - RAPSI, Fyodor Shatsillo. The Moscow Commercial Court has recognized former AvtoVAZ’s independent dealer Eleks-Polyus as bankrupt.

The court has instituted bankruptcy proceedings against the company for a six-month term and  will consider the bankruptcy administrator’s report on Oct. 27.

Eleks-Polyus has three major creditors demanding 1.043 billion rubles.

According to the bankruptcy administrator, Russian Savings Bank (Sberbank) is set to spend 1.5 billion rubles to finance the bankruptcy procedure.

Eleks-Polyus owed Sberbank 992.8 million rubles as of July, the bank’s press office told RIA Novosti.

The company was among five key AvtoVAZ, Russia's largest car maker, dealers with an 11-percent market share and a major Lada and Zhiguli vehicle distributor as of late 2008. The company operated 16 car showrooms in Moscow.

Eleks-Polyus’s estimated debt to the banks was 8 billion rubles. Meanwhile, the dealer’s asset value is estimated at 16 billion rubles.

Igor Lisyutin owns Eleks-Polyus.