MOSCOW, September 20 - RAPSI. The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals validated the decision to award 95.764 million rubles ($3.1 million) to the Inteco development company from the Moscow Government in connection with a development project in Molzhaninovsky district, the court spokesperson told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Wednesday.
The court partially upheld the lawsuit in July. The company initially sought 161.113 million rubles ($5.2 million) for the Moscow government's failure to uphold a development contract. Inteco then appealed the decision, in a bid to secure the full amount of compensation requested.
The Moscow Department for Economic Policy and Development was a co-defendant in the case. Initially, courts in two instances upheld Inteco's claims, but the court of appeals remanded the dispute to the Moscow Commercial Court.
During a tender in September 2004, Inteco was granted the right to build housing on two plots. The company planned to build a residential neighborhood with an area of one million square meters. However, it was forced to terminate the contract in 2009, as Moscow did not fulfill its obligations to eliminate third party rights to the location, Inteco said.
The court also brought in Moskapstroy and TUKS-2 as third parties in the case.
Inteco is a multi-profile company and one of Russia's top development firms.
In autumn 2011, businessman Mikhail Shiskhanov and Sberbank Investments acquired Inteco from Yelena Baturina, Russia's richest woman and wife of former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
Shishkhanov then owned 95 percent of shares in Inteco and its subsidiaries. Sberbank Investments acquired the other five percent. Shishkhanov is also president of Binbank and has a 97.079 percent stake in its charter capital. Binbank is a top-30 Russian bank. According to Forbes, he is one of Russias 200 richest people. Sberbank Investments is a 100 percent Sberbank subsidiary. It was established in 2010 to manage investment assets.