MOSCOW, September 15 - RAPSI, Alyona Yegorova. The Health Ministry has paid over 1 billion rubles ($36 million) in debt to a major medical supplies distributor, the parties' lawyers stated at the hearing.

The Moscow Commercial Court is considering three claims within one litigation - two filed by the Biotek distribution company to recover payments for supplied medicine and one filed by the ministry to collect 34.952 million rubles ($1.3) from Biotek in fines and penalties.

According to media reports, Biotek is seeking its debt for Genfaxon supplies under public contracts.

The distributor won two tenders to supply Genfaxon in October.

Genfaxon is manufactured by the Argentinian MR Farma S. A. and is applied to treat disseminated sclerosis. The contracts were worth 1.709 billion rubles ($61 million). Biotek stated that the medicine had been delivered in full, but part of the sum remained unpaid.

In addition to medicine distribution, Biotek is also engaged in advanced medical preparations research and development.