MOSCOW, April 9 - RAPSI. The Moscow Commercial Court has adjourned until April 16 Investbank's €2.3 million lawsuit against the Air Baltic Corporation (airBaltic).
The hearing was adjourned to give the bank time to reconsider its claim amount.
The bank signed loan agreements worth €2.1 million and €9.9 million with Baltijas Aviacijas Sistemas (BAS) in 2011.
The first loan was set to mature on July 4, 2012, and the second on June 29, 2012. The guarantor was AirBaltic. BAS agreed to pay monthly interest, but the bank went to court, seeking early repayment after the payments stopped in November 2011.
Earlier, airBaltic alleged that the surety contracts in Investbank's case against the airline were forged. The airline said an internal audit was carried out and no contracts were found that identified airBaltic as a loan guarantor to BAS.
Meanwhile, Latvijas Krajbanka, a third party to the case, stated that it pledged for the loans and the liabilities under the loan agreements have already been fulfilled.
The Latvian bank's lawyer stated that Investbank withdrew over $72 million and €10 million from its corresponding accounts on November 25, 2011.
The bank asked Investbank why the funds have been withdrawn but received no reply.
The bank thus appealed to the Bank of Russia, which said the funds were withdrawn to fulfill security agreements that possibly included the agreements with airBaltic.
The plaintiff's representative claimed that the funds could not have been withdrawn in November 2011 because the loan was not set to mature until summer 2012.