MOSCOW, November 17 - RAPSI, Alyona Yegorova. A commercial court validated the award of $62.88 million to VTB Bank from Taganrog Automobile Plant (TagAZ) and Promstroy PLYUS, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) on Thursday.

TagAz was founded in February 1997 and launched a joint venture with the South Korean Hyundai in 2001. The plant can simultaneously produce up to six different car models on its primary conveyor. The plant's production capacity is 180,000 vehicles per year.

VTB Bank is the second largest bank in Russia.

The Moscow Commercial Court awarded VTB $62.879 million on June 7 in its lawsuit against TagAZ and Promstroy PLYUS. VTB sued TagAZ after it failed to repay a loan granted in 2008.

Promstroy PLYUS was the guarantor of the loan. The loan was set to mature in May 2009. The defendants were ordered to repay $50.1 million in principal debt, interest and penalties.

The court also ordered Promstroy PLYUS to pay an additional $2 million in penalties. An appeals court upheld the judgment in September.

The court instituted foreclosure proceedings against the property pledged by TagAZ as security for the loan.

The assets are goods for sale, whose initial price was set at 463.9 million rubles ($15.071 million), and the plant's equipment worth 404.18 million rubles ($13.13 million).

The court announced that the property must be sold via public auction.

The court also dismissed all counterclaims to declare the loan contract null and void.