MOSCOW, January 11 (RAPSI) – The Moscow Commercial Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Rossiya Airlines demanding to collect 92.9 million rubles ($1.3 million) in damages from Russia’s Finance Ministry, according to court records.
Rossiya Airlines has filed the lawsuit to retrieve the excess payments it made to the Pension Fund under a law of November 2001 on the additional social protection of civil crew members.

The amendments to the law made in December 2010 cancelled the upper ceiling on the revenue base for the assessment of insurance premiums and increased premiums from January 1, 2010. As a result, the companies that already paid insurance premiums for 2010 had to make additional payments to the Pension Fund.

In 2013, the Constitutional Court ruled that the above amendments contradicted the Constitution in that they were applied retroactively, thereby affecting the air carriers’ financial position.

Following that, several airlines demanded the return of overpayments they made for 2010. On April 28, 2015, the Supreme Court upheld the lower courts’ decisions under which the Finance Ministry was to pay about 158 million rubles ($2.2 million) to UTair. In early June, S7 Airlines sued the ministry for about 157 million rubles ($2.1 million). Aeroflot has filed a lawsuit seeking over 374 million rubles ($5.1 million) in compensation from Russia’s Finance Ministry. In December 2015, indebted Russian air carrier Transaero filed a lawsuit seeking over 215 million rubles (about $3 million).

Rossiya Airlines is one of the biggest Russian airlines and the leading air carrier in the North-Western region of the Russian Federation. Rossiya Airlines is located in St. Petersburg and operates up to 40% of flights from Pulkovo airport, the company’s website says.