MOSCOW, February 6 (RAPSI) – Snc Villacota 3, a company which the Russian Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) believes to be affiliated with billionaire Sergei Pugachev, has filed a claim with the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling ordering it to pay over EUR 50 million to Mezhprombank, RAPSI reports from the courtroom on Friday.

Mezhprombank (International Industrial Bank or IIB) issued a loan to the company in 2007, when it was controlled by Pugachev. In November 2010, the Moscow Commercial Court declared Mezhprombank bankrupt, as its overall debt exceeded 90 billion rubles ($2.8 billion).

On February 7, 2014, the Moscow Commercial Court ruled in favor of DIA, which sought to collect EUR 21 million from Snc Villacota 3 under a July 24, 2007 contract with Mezhprombank and about EUR 30 million under a November 15, 2007 contract.

The ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeals on April 17, 2014 and by the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Judicial District on August 15, 2014. 
Snc Villacota 3 subsequently filed a retrial motion at the Supreme Court.

First Deputy Director General of the DIA Valery Miroshnikov told the press in August 2013 that “Snc Villacota 3 has not repaid the loan it took out from Mezhprombank.”

The DIA, which is the bank’s bankruptcy receiver, has secured a French court decision to arrest Chateau de Gairaut, a historical castle in Nice owned by the company, as a security measure. The property has been valued at 30 million euros.

Miroshnikov added that “several Russian potential buyers showed interest in these receivables (EUR 8.3 million), but they withdrew after learning the details, which is why these receivables have been removed from trading.”