MOSCOW, November 30 - RAPSI, Dmitry Shchitov. A commercial court will hear on January 19 the Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum's lawsuit to quash the auction for the sale of a land plot within the museum's preservation area, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reported from the courtroom on Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry and successful bidder Gradostroy are the defendants.

Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum seeks to invalidate the August 22 land purchase-and-sale contract.

On August 16, Gradostroy won the ministry's auction for the sale of 20.67 hectares near the estate museum for 754.493 million rubles ($24 million). Pursuant to tender documents, the land plot had a number of encumbrances.

The plaintiff believes the ministry was not entitled to order the land auctioning as most of the land is within the museum's preservation zone, while a smaller area is the estate's territory. Therefore, the State Property Management Committee, but not the Defense Ministry, should dispose of the land.