MOSCOW, August 13 - RAPSI. The Moscow Commercial Court has recovered $7.26 million in losses for the disruption of elite housing construction from the city government for the Film Directors Guild's Trading House Forum-XXI, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Monday.
The court has partially satisfied the Forum-XXI's claims.The forum sought to recover 397.663 million rubles ($12.48 million) in losses and 141.9 million rubles ($4.45 million) in interest. The court refused the plaintiff's request to recover the interest.
According to the Forum-XXI, the Moscow Mayor's Office signed investment contracts to build an art center and hotel complex adjacent to the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow in 2000.
The city government and the Forum-XXI entered into a 49 year lease agreement on the construction site.
The guild maintained that it had invested in the project's design and construction pursuant to a government resolution, but the authorities terminated the lease in 2005. The Forum-XXI said the interest on the loan granted by the Kazakh Kazkommertsbank also accounts for incurred losses.
A city spokesperson argued that the statute of limitations had expired because the lease agreement was declared null and void by the Supreme Commercial Court in November 2006.
Meanwhile, the court terminated a second lease contract in September 2007, the city government said.
The Moscow Commercial Court held against the guild's lawsuit on September 19, ruling that the statute of limitations had expired.
However, the Moscow District Federal Commercial Court ruled on March 28 that the lower court decisions that the statute of limitations had expired were groundless, as the plaintiff only found out about the amount of the expenses confirmed in the documents in April 2008.
Therefore, the guild's claims to recover 471 million rubles ($14.78 million) in losses and 169.104 million rubles ($5.3 million) in borrowing interest will be reconsidered.
The court has also confirmed the dismissal of a 120 million ruble ($3.76mln) claim for lost profit as compensation since the amount is an estimate that has not been confirmed in any documents.
