MOSCOW, February 6 - RAPSI. The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals has upheld the lower-court's decision that a renowned fashion designer's company is bankrupt in a lawsuit filed by a former managing director of Alfa-Bank, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reports on Monday.

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 designer Iren Galitzine. Chapurin currently designs pret-a-porte clothes, sportswear for alpine skiing, shoes, fur clothes and furniture.

The second-instance court dismissed PR-Kvadrat's appeal against the Moscow Commercial Court's decision in the case.

On December 7, the judge ruled that the company owed 21.405 million rubles ($709,940) in primary debt to Gualtieri and found it bankrupt.

The applicant's representatives earlier said the debt has been confirmed by a Moscow District Court decision that came into effect on May 20.

PR-Kvadrat acknowledged the debt, but refused to undergo bankruptcy proceedings.

Media reported that Gualtieri purchased from PR-Kvadrat and Chapurin Couture promissory notes amounting to a total of over 34 million rubles ($1.1 million) in 2008.
Gualtieri filed a lawsuit after the companies failed to pay the promissory notes on time.