MOSCOW, November 2 - RAPSI, Natalia Belova. A commercial court held in favor of the lower-courts' decisions to uphold Mosmetrostroy's auction, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) on Wednesday.

Mosmetrostroy is the general contractor for constructing the Moscow metro.

E4 Group is an engineering company that is part of the RU-COM Group. The group includes over 50 enterprises throughout Russia. It was engaged in the construction of nine nuclear power plant units in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The total cost of its orders has exceeded $3.27 billion.

The Federal Agency for State Property Management, the Tsentrstroy construction company and the auction's winner are defendants in the case.

Mosmetrostroy is a third party in the dispute.

The appeal concerns a controversial auction on December 23, 2010.

The Federal Agency for State Property Management sold its 100-percent stake in Mosmetrostroy to Tsentrstroy for $248.7 million after the initial bidding opened at $71.9 million. The deal contributed to the agency's 2010 state property privatization plan worth $589.1 million.

E4 Group stated after the auction that it had been notified of its exclusion from the auction after the bidding had begun, as opposed to the day before the auction as is normally required. Additionally, it asserted that it was denied participation under false pretexts.

Therefore, E4 Group believes a number of violations occurred during the auction.

The Moscow Commercial Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by E4 Group on May 12. The court of appeals upheld the decision.

It is unknown whose interests Tsentrstroy, the auction's winner, represents. Sberbank Investitsii was reported to have purchased a stake in Tsentrstroy in February.