MOSCOW, May 25 - RAPSI. The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals has supported the original ruling that the additional charge imposed on VimpelCom of over $29.5 million in unpaid tax was invalid, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Friday.

The court dismissed the appeal by the tax body against the Moscow Commercial Court's decision on May 22.

Previous reports stated that VimpelCom had also appealed against the decision. But then the company canceled its appeal. "It was purely a technical error," the company's lawyer said explaining why the appeal had been submitted.

VimpelCom filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Commercial Court on July 15 to revoke the Federal Tax Service's March 30 decision to collect from the company an additional 939.836 million rubles ($29.5 million) in taxes. The tax service decided to charge the company additional taxes after an on-site audit of VimpelCom operations between 2007 and 2008.

VimpelCom is one of Russia's largest integrated telecommunications services operators offering wireless, fixed and broadband services. Its sole shareholder is the Dutch VimpelCom Ltd.