MOSCOW, September 26 - RAPSI, Alyona Yegorova. The federal commercial court upheld on Tuesday the reversal of a commercial court's $340 million award in favor of Russian well-known businessman Nikolai Maximov, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reported from the courtroom.

Nikolai Maximov holds a 50-percent minus one share stake in MAXI-Group, a large metallurgical holding. As of 2007 the holding comprised more than 30 enterprises assembling and recycling ferrous scrap; their share on the Russian market stood at 6-7 percent of the total amount of recycled scrap.

Maximov's lawsuit stemmed from the dispute over the value of his MAXI-Group shares purchased by Novolipetsk Iron & Steel Corporation in December 2007. Maximov disagreed with the commercial courts ruling and appealed against it.

The Moscow District Federal Commercial Court has approved the lower court's June 21 decision which sided with the corporation and satisfied its appeal against the March 31 ruling passed by the International Commercial Arbitration at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

On August 25 the Moscow Commercial Court held in favor of the steel corporation's application for the bankruptcy of Maxi-Group, and ordered the holdings bankruptcy administration.