MOSCOW, June 5 (RAPSI) - The Moscow Region Federal Commercial Court has upheld the lower court ruling to recognize AMT Bank as bankrupt, the court told RAPSI on Wednesday.

The ruling was appealed by businessman Igor Vinokurov, who claimed that the court had no grounds to initiate the bankruptcy proceedings and to declare AMT bankrupt following a simplified bankruptcy procedure.

He said receivership was introduced at the bank unlawfully because the court failed to take into account the fact that the bank's liquidation procedure was also underway in court, and that the liquidation case could provide evidence of the bank's capability of paying its creditors with property.

The Moscow Commercial Court declared AMT Bank bankrupt on June 20, 2012 after the Deposit Insurance Agency filed for the bank's bankruptcy. The agency was appointed as the bank's receiver in October 2011.

AMT's net assets amounted to 8.571 billion rubles ($269.3 million) including loan loss reserves as of April 1, 2012, while the registered creditor claims totaled 32 billion rubles ($1 billion), including 15.462 billion rubles ($485.8 million) in first priority claims, one of the bank creditors said during the court hearing.

A Deposit Insurance Agency representative said the bank's core assets include a 28.6 billion ruble ($898.5 million) loan portfolio. He also estimated the bank's assets without reserves at 53 billion rubles ($1.7 billion).

On May 21, the Moscow Commercial Court upheld the Deposit Insurance Agency's request to collect 1.178 billion rubles ($37 million) from the Bank of Russia in favor of AMT Bank, thus invalidating the payments that AMT Bank made on its Bank of Russia loan just before its license was revoked.

The AMT Bank is a universal financial institution with nine branches and 22 additional offices and four back offices. It is a former subsidiary of the Kazakh bank BTA, which held a 22% stake in the AMT Bank as of 2011. The BTA Bank was controlled by Mukhtar Ablyazov, who was accused of embezzling at least $4 billion from his former employer. Ablyazov fled Kazakhstan in 2009 as the country's sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, assumed control of BTA.