ST. PETERSBURG, May 17 - RAPSI. The St. Petersburg and Leningrad Regional Commercial Court has included the $40.7 million claim filed by Swedish Stena RoRo in the creditors' register of the Baltiysky Zavod, one of the biggest shipbuilding companies in Russia.

In 2005, Stena RoRo AB and Baltiysky Zavod signed a contract for the Russian shipyard to build two vessels worth 58.8 million euros each for the Swedish company.
Later the parties entered into an option agreement for the construction of two similar vessels worth 59.4 million euros each.

Neither the ships contracted, nor those stated in the option agreement were built. The Swedish company filed a case against the shipyard in a Stockholm court of arbitration seeking to recover its losses.

The court upheld the suit, awarding Stena RoRo AB over 20 million euros in damages caused by the non-execution of contracts, but the shipyard refused to adhere to the ruling. Stena RoRo AB then submitted a claim to the St. Petersburg Commercial Court, requesting it to recognize the ruling.

In September, the Supreme Commercial Court finally supported the decision passed by the Stockholm court of arbitration.

Founded in 1856 Baltiysky Zavod is part of the United Industrial Corporation owned by former Senator Sergey Pugachyov. The factory builds icebreakers and naval ships. It manufactures a range of engineering products and energy equipment, and produces nonferrous and core-mold castings.

Baltiysky Zavod is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. The shipbuilder was placed under credit watchdog on January 13. Its major creditor is Rosenergoatom Concern which is seeking to have its $435 million claim included in the shipbuilder's creditors' list.

In December 2011 the court held for the Central Bank's petition to recover the 88.32 percent stake in Baltiysky Zavod, pledged as a security for the loans issued to Mezhprombank. The court ordered to transfer shipbuilder's shares to the Central Bank for trust management.