MOSCOW, July 25 (RAPSI) - The Commercial Court of the Republic of Komi dismissed the case of a lawsuit filed by the republic’s department of the Federal Service for the Supervision of Natural Resources that required compensation from LUKOIL Komi in the amount of 615 million rubles ($17.5 mln) in land related environmental damages, the court told RAPSI on Friday.

According to the court ruling, under paragraph 30 of the resolution of the panel of the Supreme Court On Application by the Courts of Law on Liability for Environmental Violation, such disputes must first be considered by the courts of general jurisdiction.

There is no indication in the case materials that the lawsuit was initially filed with a court of general jurisdiction and thus the case was dismissed due to its being outside the court’s jurisdiction.

The plaintiff is suing for compensation for the contamination of nine plots of land in the Usinskoye and Vozeiskoye oil fields.

The defendant has responded that the liability was mitigated by the reclamation of the polluted land. The defendant is also claiming that the plot of polluted soil and the extent of damage have not been clearly proven by the plaintiff.