MOSCOW, September 24 - RAPSI. The Moscow District Federal Commercial Court has upheld the dismissal of Sodexim's $56.5 million complaint against the Finance Ministry, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Monday.

The company's appeal has been rejected.

Sodexim said the claim resulted from an Algerian debt settlement with the Soviet Union.

Sodexim was already awarded $43.4 million in debt compensation against the ministry in 2010.

In March, the court dismissed the $56.5 million claim because the plaintiff failed to prove the existence of the remaining debt and the statute of limitations had expired.

The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals upheld the court ruling in June.

In the cassation review, the federal commercial court checked the legality of the lower court decisions with a view to correct the application of the substantive law and procedural requirements.

In 1996, Sodexim won a tender to sell Algerian goods as a part of a debt settlement program. Algeria was expected to pay its debt by selling goods in Russia via the plaintiff. However, Sodexim never received the goods, as Algeria cut off its supplies to the country.

The plaintiff said it accrued $80.8 million in liabilities. In response to Sodexim's initial filing of its debt claim against the Finance Ministry, the Moscow Commercial Court ordered in November 2010 that the ministry must refund the $43.4 million that Sodexim had transferred as a guarantee payment, including $24.24 million in principal debt and interest. Sodexim filed its second claim in an effort to recover the remaining amount.

The defendant denied the claim. The ministry said the sum in question is "not a debt per se," as the money transferred by Sodexim has already been paid back.