MOSCOW, February 15 - RAPSI. A federal commercial court has upheld the dismissal of the Federal Tax Service's lawsuit to impose $8.7 million in secondary liability against Samara airline managers Sergei Mordvintsev and Evgeny Kirsanov, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com).

The claimant must prove that the defendant acted unlawfully, specify the amount of losses and indicate a causal link between the actions and the losses, according to the court. However, the tax service failed to prove such actions or omissions on the part of the managers.

The tax service challenged the judgments passed by the Samara Region Commercial Court and the appeals court on October 20 and December 7, respectively.

The Eleventh Commercial Court of Appeals ruled in February 2011 that the former airline's CEO Mordvintsev should not incur secondary liability and dismissed the Domodedovo Airport Commercial Agency's appeal against the Samara Regional Commercial Court's decision dated November 26, 2010 to collect 97.645 million rubles ($3.2 million) from Mordvintsev.

According to the agency, it entered into a ground services contract with Samara in 2005. The airline stopped fulfilling its contractual obligations from February 2008 and its debt to the agency has reached 97.645 million rubles ($3.2 million).

The Vnukovo airport guaranteed that Samara would repay to the agency its debt accrued from August 12, 2008 to September 7, 2008. The debt was 14.954 million rubles ($497,000).

Earlier, the agency sued Samara in the Moscow Commercial Court for 97.645 million rubles ($3.2 million), of which 14.954 million rubles ($497,000) were to be collected jointly from the debtor and its guarantor. However, the court refused to collect the amount.

Samara was declared bankrupt by the Samara Regional Commercial Court on July 9, 2009.

Samara was part of the AiRUnion alliance along with KrasAir, Domodedovo Airlines, Sibaviatrans and Omskavia. The alliance seized to exist because of its spiraling debts for fuel and ground services in fall 2008.