ST. PETERSBURG, August 2 - RAPSI. The St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region Commercial Court will hear four lawsuits in August-September by JFC Group, currently undergoing bankruptcy procedures, to recover 2.95 billion rubles ($91.01 million) from its debtors, according to the Supreme Commercial Court's website.

JFC Group is the parent company of major importer of fruits to Russia JFC.

The hearings into the lawsuit worth 307.9 million rubles ($9.49 million) against Moscow's National Fruit Corporation have been scheduled for August 14, while the hearings into a similar lawsuit claiming 2.129 billion rubles ($65.68 million) have been set for 4 September.

The commercial court will hear JFC Group's lawsuit worth 289.2 million rubles ($8.92 million) against Whilm Management on August 14, while an analogous case for 233.78 million rubles ($7.21 million) suit will be heard on September 26.

In May, the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Regional Commercial Court initiated bankruptcy procedures against JFC subsidiaries Cargo JFC and Bonanza International. Their creditors insist that debts worth $297.84 million should be included in their schedules of debts. A similar procedure was opened against the JFC Group, JFC's parent company. The court was scheduled to consider the claims of the company's creditors to enter claims worth 18.156 billion rubles ($560.15 million) into the register on September 10. But the court has decided to speed up the process based on the creditors' statements.

According to JFC's February reports, a credit watch was launched to protect creditors' interests and to allow the company to continue its operations.

JFC's financial difficulties supposedly began amid global market troubles attributed to the effects of Arab Spring, which forced many agricultural produce distributors into bankruptcy.

JFC General Director Vladimir Kekhman said earlier that he was working to resolve the company's financial problems and he would draw up a new business plan in about three months.

Established in St. Petersburg in 1994, the JFC Group comprises fruit production, procurement, storage, distribution and sales companies. It has 3,000 hectares of banana plantations in Ecuador and Costa Rica. JFC runs offices in St. Petersburg, Moscow and other Russian cities, as well as in Cyprus, Ecuador and Costa Rica. It has 3,600 personnel. JFC is engaged in fruit sales in Europe, the Middle East and the CIS.