MOSCOW, November 24 - RAPSI, Sergei Feklyunin. A commercial court will hold on December 20 the preliminary hearings into a lawsuit filed by VTB United League to recover from the Russian Basketball Federation $1.12 million, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) on Thursday.

The court did not specify the gist of the dispute, which was submitted on September 16.

Earlier, the judge shelved the lawsuit, as the plaintiff had not attached the extracts from the Unified State Registrar of Legal Entities stating the whereabouts of the plaintiff and the defendant.

RAPSI has yet to obtain the parties' comments.

VTB United League President Sergei Ivanov said in his interview with the Sport-Express newspaper that the federation is bankrupt.
"Dont get me wrong, I have no conflicts with the federation. But I do gave some claims against it. First, they should return the 35 million rubles ($1.12 million) they stole from the league. We need this money, since it is part of the tournament budget," Ivanov said.

He added that the funds disappeared under the previous president. Current President Alexander Krasnenkov promised to compensate for all the debts before taking office.