MOSCOW, August 10 - RAPSI, Sergei Feklyunin. The Moscow Commercial Court has adjourned until August 17 the preliminary hearings in the Novolipetsk Steel's (NLMK) lawsuit to recover $400 million from Maxi Group founder Nikolai Maximov, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Friday.

The ruling concerns a lawsuit to recover $168 million and a lawsuit to dismiss a Maxi-Group shares' sales and purchase agreement and to return $231 million in advance payment.

In a second lawsuit, NLMK has also asked the court to levy execution on the company if the transaction is invalidated and to transfer the funds to the state budget as opposed to Maximov.

The court proceedings began after December 2007 when NLMK acquired a 50 percent plus one share stake in Maxi-Group, which comprised various businesses.
Both parties later filed lawsuits regarding the price of the deal.

The share price was to be calculated after a financial assessment of Maxi-Group companies. Maximov was given an advance payment of 7.3 billion rubles ($229 million).
NLMK's lawyer said in court that the amount of 7.3 billion rubles is preliminary and must be adjusted by reviewing the purchase price.