MOSCOW, October 2 - RAPSI. The Federal Commercial Court for the North-Caucasus District has registered UniCredit Bank's appeal of a verdict that overturned an Istok Distillery's bankruptcy declaration, a court spokesperson told RAPSI Tuesday.

Istok is a major Russian alcoholic beverage producer and the leader in Russia's sparkling wines market.

On September 3, the Sixteenth Commercial Court of Appeals reversed the court judgment which had declared the Istok distillery bankrupt.

At the debtor's request, the court reversed the North Ossetia-Alania Republican Commercial Court's April 27 decision to declare Istok's bankruptcy upon the tax service's request.

The court placed the company under administrative review until October 18 and approved Nikolai Kokordia as its administrator.

The appeals court said that the case would continue under supervisory procedure. It added that the administrator's financial analysis could not reveal the company's true financial condition, so any declaration of bankruptcy would be premature.

The court asked Kokordia to put together another analysis, now under supervisory procedure.

In December 2010, the chairman of Istok's board said his company would overcome its financial turmoil within four years if its primary lender, Sberbank, restructured its 2.4 billion ruble ($71.6 million) debt.

In a press release, the governor of Ossetia said that the republic would spare no expense in saving the distillery.

The press release said the company's overdue 700 million rubles ($21 million) in liabilities prompted the tax authority to apply for Istok's bankruptcy.