MOSCOW, August 3 - RAPSI, Sergei Feklyunin. The Moscow Commercial Court has postponed until September 18 its hearing of the National Reserve Banks (NRB) complaint challenging the Central Banks audit report on the NRB, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Friday.

The NRB maintains that the Central Bank performed its audit from February 2 to March 25, 2011 and discovered only insignificant violations. However, it initiated another audit in January.

The NRB filed an appeal on March 30 when the audit had been completed in all of its branch offices, while it extended at its head office until April 14.
According to Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Simanovsky, this audit is a standard process. Meanwhile, NRB owner Alexander Lebedev believes that it is politically driven.

The NRB holds that the lengthy diversion of its employees from their core activities damages the bank and results in lost profit, while the prolonged preparation of the audit report impairs its status.

According to the NRB website, the National Reserve Corporation controlled by Lebedev holds 59.83 percent of the shares in the bank. Lebedev personally holds 4.58 percent of the shares, his son Yevgeny holds 13.79 percent, VEB Capital Chief Yury Kudimov holds 18.38 percent, and the remaining 2.74 percent belong to the Federal Agency for State Property Management.

Media reported that Lebedev seeks to dispose of his Russia assets due to government pressure on Friday.