MOSCOW, July 8 (RAPSI) – Chairman of the Moscow Commercial Court Nikolay Novikov has denied expedition of a bankruptcy case against Asteros, a former IT contractor for the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia, to its temporary manager, according to court records.

The case has been scheduled for July 12, but interim trustee Alexey Belokopyt has sought for its expedition.

Earlier, the court dismissed a similar petition filed by Sberbank.

In June, the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal filed by Asteros against a lower court order of March 1 to include the company’s 2.7-billion-ruble ($41 million) debt to Sberbank in the creditors’ list.

In January, several lenders including companies and individuals filed claims with the Moscow Commercial Court demanding to add a debt of Asteros totaling to 33 billion rubles (about $500 million), to the register of creditors' demands.

Moreover, earlier several other organizations and companies filed claims against Asteros. Sberbank demands 3.6 billion rubles ($53 million) from the debtors, Russian Capital bank seeks to recover 1.9 billion rubles ($27.9 million), MTS-Bank intends to collect 353.4 million ($5.1 million), LOKO-Bank seeks 298.4 million ($4.3 million), Russia’s Federal Tax Service demands 107.7 million ($1.5 million), Borlas Group seeks 51.7 million ($760,200), the United Basketball League seeks 14.8 million ($217,600).

On July 5, Sberbank filed a bankruptcy claim against Asteros. On July 12, the court initiated a monitoring procedure against the company.

The safety concept for one of Russia’s largest sports complexes Luzhniki along with its “clean zone” inside the object were developed by Asteros.