MOSCOW, April 17 - RAPSI. AKB Investbank has filed three lawsuits amounting to a total of 17.4 million euros against Latvian national airline Air Baltic Corporation (airBaltic) and Baltijas Aviacijas Sistemas (BAS).

The bank is seeking to recover the debt resulting from loans issued.

The Moscow Commercial Court has already scheduled preliminary hearings dates to consider the claims. The court will hear a 4.8 million euro claim on April 25, while a 2.2 million and a 10.3 million euro claim will be considered on May 29.

AirBaltic's vice president Janis Vanags told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) that "airBaltic does not have documents stating any liabilities to the Russian bank in question."

Following the collapse of Latvijas Krajbanka, the government bought a 47.2 percent stake in airBaltic pledged by BAS at the par value of 224,000 lats, since BAS, the airBaltic's shareholder, could not meet its liabilities.

Investbank was founded in the city of Kaliningrad in 1989. Its head office moved to Moscow in 2011. Investbank is a multi-purpose bank, which serves over 20,000 companies and over 200,000 private individuals in 84 cities and towns in the Russian Federation.

Air Baltic Corporation (airBaltic) is a joint stock company, founded in 1995, according to the company's web site. The Latvian government holds 99.8 percent of the company shares. In 2011 airBaltic served over 3.3 million passengers and has over 34 planes.