MOSCOW, July 11 - RAPSI. The offshore company Encatto Ltd., which is controlled by Gazprom, has filed a lawsuit with a U.S. court to recover funds paid to a local company to produce an advertising film for the gas giant's subsidiary.

According to the statement of claim, Gazprom hired the British Apogee Ventures in 2011 to prepare a presentation. During the presentation, the company was planned to show a panorama film. Apogee referred to California's Obscura Digital Inc. to produce the project.

The parties agreed on the price to shoot the film, but they failed to agree on the post-production costs. Obscura requested $30,000 for 10 days of shooting and nearly $2 million to process the material. Apogee made a counteroffer of $600,000, having excluded all the services that it found unnecessary. Obscura dismissed the proposal immediately and stopped working on the film.

Encatto previously transferred to the defendant $150,000 as a partial payment.

The defendant refused to return the funds.

Encatto has appealed to the court to recover $120,000 in unjust enrichment.

In turn, the U.S. company filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The defendant claims the arrangements were made with Gazprom itself, and Encatto cannot be considered to be an adequate party to the dispute.