MOSCOW, April 25 - RAPSI. The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals validated the decision to recover $13.73 million in debts from Nutritek in favor of UniCredit Bank.

In January the Moscow Commercial Court upheld the lawsuit to recover the debt from Nutritek Company. On April 23, the appellate instance supported the original ruling, dismissing Nutritek's appeal..

Nutrinvestholding, the defendant's parent company, is a third party in the litigation as the loan borrower, while the defendant acted as the guarantor.

The loan was issued to Nutrinvestholding in 2008. The borrower defaulted and requested debt restructuring. The bank agreed and concluded supplementary agreements.

However, the company violated its obligations once again, and the bank was entitled to an early repayment.

At first the claims to recover main credit debt, as well as interest and penalty were brought against the borrower and the guarantor.

But last September, the bank requested to consider the claims in a separate proceeding. On September 23, 2011, the Moscow Commercial Court upheld the bank's lawsuit against the borrower in full.

Nutritek was established in 1990. It comprises five factories producing baby and customized foods - five in Russia, one in Ukraine and one in New Zealand.

Nutritek first defaulted on Eurobonds redemption in late 2008. In mid-2009, it defaulted in ruble bonds retirement. Eventually, its debt totaled about $200 million as of early 2010. Later, the company began to restructure the debt, but a number of creditors went to court.

Nutritek failed to pay dividends for 2008 and 2009. The court put Nutrinvestholding into administration pending its bankruptcy.

UniCredit Bank is a Russian commercial bank with international capital. It provides services for corporate and private clients and is engaged in corporate financing and treasury operations. It was founded in 1989 under the name "International Moscow Bank". Today, it has 106 branches in Russia and almost 3,700 employees.