MOSCOW, March 23 - RAPSI. The Eleventh Commercial Court of Appeals has suspended until May 16 an appeal filed by Yukos Capital S.a.r.l. against the court decision invalidating a loan contract between Yukos Capital S.a.r.l. and Samaraneftegaz worth over $102.5 million.

The appeal was shelved due to the lack of a receipt confirming the payment of state duties.

Yukos appealed the Samara Regional Commercial Court's February 8 judgment. The court then sided with Neft-Activ in its claim to declare loan contracts invalid.

Neft-Activ, a subsidiary of Rosneft, sought to invalidate loan contracts signed on July 20 and July 27, 2004. The company maintained that the "contracts are bogus deals aimed to conceal the true agreement, which is the illegal transfer of funds from Samaraneftegaz to Yukos Capital S.a.r.l. and the further return of these funds to Samaraneftegaz as a loan."

The loans granted to Samaraneftegaz amounted to 2.415 billion rubles ($82.5 million). The company was also charged 664.8 million rubles ($22.7 million) in interest.