MOSCOW, February 1 - RAPSI. The Bank of Moscow has asked the High Court of Justice in London to reverse its ruling on the bankruptcy of Vladimir Kekhman, CEO of Russia's largest fruit importer, JFC Group, the Prime business news agency was told by the bank's press service.

The High Court declared Kekhman bankrupt in early October 2012, thus protecting his foreign assets from creditors. An informed source told Prime at the time that Kekhman and several other top managers of JFC Group had taken out $306 million worth of long-term loans.

In 2012, the Bank of Moscow filed a suit with the London court to collect debts from three guarantors of two loans to JFC Group, including from JFC Group Holding BVI Ltd, worth a total of around $152 million.

JFC Group's other major creditors were Sberbank, Promsvyazbank and Bank Uralsib.

In March 2012, the St. Petersburg Commercial Court of Appeals approved a supervision procedure for JFC Group. Kekhman was appointed the company's CEO later that month. In May 2012, the court introduced a supervision procedure in two of the group's other companies, Cargo JFC and Bonanza International. By July 2012, the creditors' complaints amounted to around RUB 18 billion ($600 million).

Established in St. Petersburg in 1994, the JFC Group comprises fruit production, procurement, storage, distribution, and sales companies. It has 3,000 hectares of banana plantations in Ecuador and Costa Rica. JFC runs offices in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and other Russian cities, as well as in Cyprus, Ecuador and Costa Rica. It has a staff of approximately 3,600. JFC deals in fruit sales in Europe, the Middle East, and the CIS.