MOSCOW, October 18 - RAPSI, Alyona Yegorova. The court postponed on Monday until December 1 its hearing of a developer's lawsuit against Moscow government for $155.5 million in damages, the Russian Legal Information Agency reports from the courtroom.

The lawsuit stems from the Hotel Russia renovation project of December 20, 2004, and an investment contract dated July 31, 2006, entered into with ST Development of Shalva Chigirinsky.

The trial was postponed to allow time for various agencies to submit the requested documents stating the status of the works executed under the contracts.

The lawsuit was filed in 2009 when the claimed amount was 3.159 billion rubles ($103 million). The defendants are the Moscow economic policy and development department as well as its finance department.

The project was reportedly transferred to a company owned by US businessman Ronald Lauder in late 2009. He contemplated investing 30 billion rubles ($976 million) into the project, but the plans have never been implemented.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in September that the hotel grounds may be provided for the construction of a parliamentary center or hotel complex.