MOSCOW, October 5 - RAPSI, Alyona Yegorova.The Bank of Moscow and Milstream Black Sea Wines are negotiating a settlement in the lawsuit for 822.955 million rubles ($25.2 million) in debt under a loan, the parties said at a court session.

The Moscow Commercial Court has scheduled November 23 for the next hearing.

This is the largest of four lawsuits filed by the bank against wineries in June. The requested damages of the claims total over 1 billion rubles ($30.6 million). Kornet and the Moscow Interrepublican Winery are defendants in the other suits.

The bank told RIA Novosti that it is committed to defending its interests in court, where it has been recovering debts owed to it under loan agreements. The bank observed that it will go after these debts because it is not, after all, a shareholder of its debtors, but, rather, their lender.

The other parties to the suits have thus far not commented to RAPSI.

VTB, Russia's second largest bank, purchased 46.48 percent in the Bank of Moscow from the Moscow government in February. The transaction was accompanied by a conflict among the shareholders and public attacks by top managers.