MOSCOW, December 9 - RAPSI, Sergei Feklyunin. A commercial court registered an application by Lotsman Management Group to declare MTS, Russia's major mobile operator, bankrupt, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com).

MTS is Russia's largest mobile operator in terms of the number of clients. As of September the company's subscriber base included 70.122 million users, and the total number of users stands at 106.39 million people with due account to the company's CIS subsidiaries.

Lotsman Management Group is a marketing and distributor agency, according to the company's website.

The application was filed on December 8, the hearing date has not been set yet. RAPSI/rapsinews.com has yet to obtain the companies' comments.

The resolution of the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals to recover 17.173 million rubles ($545,000) in debts under contract from MTS in favor of Lotsman Management Group came into effect on November 7. Pursuant to this agreement, the plaintiff, on behalf of and at the expense of the defendant, was taking actions to search for potential subscribers, provide information to them as well as legal actions to enter into subscriber contracts both in Moscow and the Moscow Region.

The court of first instance dismissed in full Lotsman Management Group's lawsuit. A cassation appeal was filed against the resolution of the court of appeals. The court will hear the appeal on January 19.