ST. PETERSBURG, January 17 - RAPSI. A St. Petersburg court postponed on Monday until February 20 its hearing of two lawsuits filed by state-run Vnesheconombank (VEB) against five Tatarstan-based developers, the court reported on Tuesday.

VEB seeks to recover 596.4 million rubles ($18.87 million) in debt which stemmed from unpaid loans.

The St. Petersburg Commercial Court will hear two VEB's claims - one for 233.7 million rubles ($7.39 million) and the other for 362.7 million rubles ($11.47 million).

The court is also expected to hear two other lawsuits - for 245 million rubles ($7.75 million) and 189.3 million rubles ($5.99 million) against Tatarstan-based companies on January 18 and 19, respectively.

A group of developers located in the Republic of Tatarstan planned to spend 3.77 billion rubles ($ 119.3 million) to build 127,000 square meters of a residential area in the town of Naberezhnye Chelny in 2009.