MOSCOW, November 21 - RAPSI, Aloyona Yegorova. A commercial court postponed until January 16 on Monday its hearing of Imex Capital Incorporated Ltd.'s lawsuit to recover 1.065 billion rubles ($34.5 million) in debt from the PIK Group, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reports from the courtroom.

The hearing was adjourned for technical reasons.

Businessman Andrei Oskolkov and the PIK Group entered into a contract on the sale of a 100-percent interest in Izh-stroy in June 2008. As the purchaser, PIK was obligated to pay 1.835 billion rubles ($59 million) in four installments by March 2009. However, the third and fourth installments were not paid.

Oskolkov assigned his rights under the contract to Imex in December 2009.

Imex Capital Incorporated Ltd. unsuccessfully requested payment from PIK, and then filed the lawsuit with the Moscow Commercial Court. It is seeking 917.9 million rubles in principle debt and 146.8 million rubles in interest.

Meanwhile, PIK has contested the validity of the assignment agreement between Oskolkov and Imex.

PIK has been operating in Russia since 1994. Its core business is large-scale housing development for mass consumers.