MOSCOW, November 7 - RAPSI, Sergei Faklyunin. A court declared a company, owned by famous fashion designer Igor Chapurin, bankrupt at the request of former Alfa-Bank managing director Dominic Gualtieri, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reported on Wednesday.

The court commenced a six-month bankruptcy procedure against the company.

Igor Chapurin was born in the town of Velikie Luki in Russia in 1968. He won the international young fashion designers contest in Paris in 1992. Chapurin later worked for the French fashion house owned by Russian-Georgian-born fashion designer Iren Galitzine. Chapurin currently designs pret-a-porte clothes, sportswear for alpine skiing, shoes, fur clothes and furniture.

The judge ruled that Chapurin's PR-Kvadrat company owed Gualtieri 21.4 million rubles ($686,980) in principal debt and initiated simplified bankruptcy proceedings against the company.

Gualtieri's lawyer said that a Moscow district court earlier recognized the debt. The relevant judgment came into force on May 10, 2011.

PR-Kvadrat admitted the debt and agreed to undergo bankruptcy proceedings. PR-Kvadrat's representative also said the company has accounts receivable and tangible assets.

The media reported that in 2008 Gualtieri purchased from PR-Kvadrat and Chapurin Couture promissory notes amounting to a total of over 34 million rubles ($1.1 million).

Gualtieri filed a lawsuit after the companies failed to pay the promissory notes in time.