LONDON, March 22 - RAPSI. The Westminster Magistrates Court in London will consider on Thursday the case on the extradition of former shareholders of Lithuanian Snoras bank.

Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov and his Lithuanian business partner Raimondas Baranauskas were detained in November 2011 upon the request of Lithuanian authorities.

The Lithuanian Prosecutor's Office seeks to interrogate them over their involvement in a large-scale assets theft from the Snoras bank, forgery and fraudulent accounting.

Both businessmen have been accused of embezzling about 220 million pounds.

Antonov and Raimondas stood trial in December 2011 for the first time. The court then released Antonov on a 75,000 pound bail.

Renowned British lawyer James Lewis represents Antonov in the UK court. In 2003, Lewis was involved in the extradition of Russian self-exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky on behalf of the UK Prosecutor's Office and Russian authorities.

The lawyers engaged in the case assume the proceeding will be long and complicated taking into account "strange circumstances" of the Snoras bank's nationalization process.

Snoras is a part of Convers Group, owned by Antonov. Convers Group has 68.1 percent stake in the bank, Baranauskas owns 25.3 percent in the bank. Lithuanian government nationalized Snoras in November 2011 accusing it of committing illegal activities.