MOSCOW, March 4 (RAPSI) – The Moscow Commercial Court postponed till March 28 the hearing of 7 billion ruble ($215 mln) lawsuit filed by Russian Railways against Finance Ministry, RAPSI reports from the court room on Tuesday.
Russian Railways demanded compensation for its losses from the transportation of benefit recipients in 2009. Under an agreement on the transportation of benefit recipients in 2009 signed with the Healthcare Ministry in late 2008, Russian Railways was to receive compensation for profit shortfall resulting from this agreement.
The rail monopoly said the transportation of benefit recipients in 2009 cost the company 11 billion rubles (over $365 million), but only 4 billion rubles (around $133 million) were issued in compensation from the federal budget.
Russian Railways, which cannot refuse to transport benefit recipients, has notified the government and the ministry that the allocations would not cover its expenses.
During the previous hearing, a Finance Ministry spokesperson argued that the plaintiff had not provided substantiation for the sum claimed and also did not comply with the procedure for requesting compensation. Russian Railways sent its compensation requests not to the Healthcare Ministry but to the Finance Ministry in 2011. The Finance Ministry is not a signatory of the agreement, and its guilt has not been proved.
