MOSCOW, January 13 - RAPSI, Natalia Belova. A commercial court has declared a recess on Friday until January 18 in the hearing of the Central Bank's lawsuit against the shareholders of the Severnaya Verf (Northern Shipyard) shipbuilding plant, whose shares were pledged under loans totaling $1 billion to Mezhprombank, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reports from the courtroom.

In October, the court ordered an expert appraisal of the pledged shares to be completed by December 20. Deloitte & Touche CIS was appointed by the court to conduct the appraisal. It requested additional materials and the extension of the deadline until February 29.

Experts attending the Friday hearing supported the request.

According to Mezhprombank, the pledged shares were also later pledged upon the Central Bank's approval with Mezhprombank under another 7 billion ruble ($221 million) loan to the shipyard's parent company. The shares equal a 50-percent plus one share stake, while 75.82 of the shares were pledged with the Central Bank under loan agreements.

Mezhprombank believes that if the lawsuit is satisfied, it will be unable to claim the security enforcement. However, the court can determine the claim priority if it considers all of the claims under the lawsuit.