MOSCOW, October 17 - RAPSI, Dmitry Shchitov. An appeals court has postponed until November 7 its hearing of the Auchan and Atac retailers' claim against the dismissal of their lawsuits against the antimonopoly service, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reports from the courtroom.

Auchan and Atac are part of the French Auchan international retail group.

Auchan and Atac have challenged the antimonopoly watchdog's November 2010 resolution that they had created discriminatory conditions through contracts executed with bakeries.

The antimonopoly service decided that the retailers violated trade law after it discovered that their contracts contravened legislation.

The court heard the appellants' arguments and decided to postpone the case.

The Auchan international retail group was established in 1961 by Gerard Mulliez. It runs over 1,200 outlets in 13 countries. Auchan has operated in Russia since 2002, where it has 25 Auchan megastores, 13 Auchan City megastores, two Auchan Garden stores and two Raduga (Rainbow) stores as of June 2010.

Atac comprises the Atac and Simply Market supermarket chains and is an Auchan subsidiary. It operates in France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Russia.