MOSCOW, September 25 - RAPSI. The Moscow District Federal Commercial Court has registered an appeal by the Kurskaya Ploshchad development company against the lower court ruling to recover over 906 million rubles ($29 million) from the Moscow authorities instead of the initially claimed 5.7 billion rubles ($182.7 million), the court spokesperson told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com).

The first and appellate instance courts partially upheld the company's claims but dismissed those seeking to recover losses and lost profit.

The Moscow government and Kurskaya Ploshchad, which owns a nonresidential building near the Kursky Railway Station, signed an investment contract in December 2005.

The developer was to invest 99 percent of the costs, while the Moscow government was to invest one percent.

The parties planned to construct a three-star hotel covering 60,400 square meters and offer 320 rooms. The Moscow authorities first planned to complete the project by 2010, but later extended the deadline until 2013.

The developer sought to cancel the contract and to recover 686.2 million rubles ($23 million) as a down payment, 219.8 million rubles ($7.3 million) in interest, 4.2 billion rubles ($140.9 million) in lost profit and 675.5 million rubles ($22.6 million) in damages.

The Moscow government told the court that the claim has no legal grounds. The authorities maintain that the plaintiff failed to finance the project in full and did not agree the initial design plans with it.