MOSCOW, October 7 - RAPSI, Sergei Feklyunin. A commercial court will hold on November 3 preliminary hearing of a business center's lawsuit to recover from the Georgian consular section at the Embassy of Switzerland rent and utility payment arrears, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) on Friday.

A 1,000 square meter mansion was rented by the Georgian Embassy until 2001. The building was later rented by the Georgian Locations History Center, which subsequently purchased the mansion in an auction, and then sold the building to the Ostozhenka Business Center in 2007.

The second floor is presently occupied by the Swiss Embassy's Consular Department for Georgian Interests, which has served as a consular agency since March 4, 2009 following the break in diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia after the August 2008 war.

The business center maintains that there are ample legal grounds for the department eviction from the building as it has failed to pay its rent and utility bills.

The lawsuit was filed on September 1. The judge shelved the lawsuit until October 7 allowing the plaintiff time to submit some requisite documents, including the debt amount calculation and the evidence of forwarding the statement of claim to the defendants.

The sought amount was reported to make up over 25 million rubles ($770,000), but merely 148,000 rubles ($4,552) was indicated in the postponement ruling.