MOSCOW, June 5 - RAPSI. The Moscow Commercial Court has shelved Investbank's lawsuit against Latvia's Air Baltic Corporation (airBaltic) and Baltijas Aviacijas Sistemas (BAS) to recover 5.3 million euro, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Tuesday.

On January 27, 2011, the bank provided a 4.5 million euro loan to BAS, while airBaltic acted as the guarantor. The loan was set to mature in one year, but was never repaid. Investbank went to court seeking 4.8 million euros, but raised the amount claimed to 5.3 million euros at the preliminary session.

At the hearing on Tuesday, the defendants asked to terminate proceedings because "according to the agreement allegedly signed by both parties, the dispute should be reviewed by the International Commercial Arbitration Court". The plaintiff objected as it believes that the defendants merely intend to drag out the trial. The court has refused to drop the proceedings and has shelved the banks claim.

The court has also upheld Latvijas Krajbanka's motion to step in as a third party. Latvijas Krajbanka was the pledgor in the transaction and the judgment may affect its interests.

Investbank has in fact filed three lawsuits against the defendants. The other lawsuits claim 2.2 million and 10.3 million euros. The hearings for these have been scheduled for July 17.

Investbank was founded in Kaliningrad in 1989. Its head office moved to Moscow in 2011. Investbank is a multi-service bank which serves over 20,000 companies and 200,000 individuals in 84 Russian cities.

Air Baltic Corporation (airBaltic) is a joint stock company founded in 1995. The Latvian government holds 99.8 percent of its shares. In 2011, airBaltic served over 3.3 million passengers. Its fleet consists of 34 planes.