MOSCOW, November 23 - RAPSI, Natalya Belova. A commercial court will continue to hear on November 29 the validity of a bankruptcy petition filed against Capital Tour's insurer, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reported.

Innogarant has been operating since 2000. Its charter capital is 1.65 billion rubles ($53 million).

Capital Tour was established in July 2003 as the first universal international travel agency. It is one of Russia's top three travel agencies. It sells medium- and high-budget tours to 40 countries via over 20,000 travel companies in Russia, countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic states.

On November 16, 2010, Capital Tour suspended its activities. At the time, more than 8,000 of its clients were based abroad. In mid-December 2010, Innogarant, which insured the travel agency's liability, said it would pay compensation to the travel agency's clients.

In total, about 10 applications have been filed to recognize the insurer's bankruptcy. The court shelved two such applications on Wednesday that were filed by ProektService and Kaskad. Innogarant said at the hearing that ProektService's application was not duly executed.

Alexander Koval, the head of the Federal Service for Insurance Supervision, said on February 16 that the service had received complaints about the non-payment of risks by Capital Tour's insurer. The watchdog limited the insurer's license on February 10. The insurer appealed the order.

However, the Moscow Commercial Court dismissed the appeal and validated the order on September 26.

On May 25, the watchdog revoked Innogarant's license. The Moscow Commercial Court will hear on December 12 Innogarant's application to invalidate the watchdog's revocation.