MOSCOW, January 18 - RAPSI, Natalia Belova. A court has consolidated the cases initiated by a developer which filed two lawsuits against the Moscow government to terminate a hotel construction contract, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reports from the courtroom.

The Kurskaya Ploshchad development company seeks to recover 5.64 billion rubles ($178.7 million) including 4.195 billion rubles ($133 million) in lost profit.

The Moscow Commercial Court will hear the case on February 20.

Kurskaya Ploshchad initially filed two lawsuits with the commercial court. The plaintiff modified the claimed amounts several times during the proceedings. The court decided to consolidate two lawsuits into one as they carry similar claims.

The Moscow government and Kurskaya Ploshchad, which owns a nonresidential building near the Kursky Railway Station, signed a co-investment contract in December 2005. The developer was to invest 99 percent of the project cost, while the Moscow government was to invest the remaining one percent.

The parties planned to develop a three-star hotel of 60,400 square meters in area, which would offer 320 rooms. Moscow authorities first planned to complete the project by 2010, but later extended the deadline until 2013.