MOSCOW – The Moscow Arbitration Court has denied a plea by Goldman Sachs to dismiss a $6.3 million lawsuit filed by Russia’s Otkritie, a subsidiary of the state-owned bank VTB. Goldman’s legal representative had contended that the Moscow court was not the appropriate jurisdiction and recommended London as the suitable venue for the case.
Otkritie’s claim arises from a derivatives contract, asserting that Goldman owes them the mentioned amount. Following Otkritie’s motion, assets belonging to Goldman in Russia, including its 5% share in the nation’s leading toy store, Detsky Mir, were frozen last month.
In court documents, Otkritie mentions that Goldman used the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the US and UK due to the Ukraine situation as a reason for not repaying the debt.
The court has scheduled the main hearing for Oct. 5. Both parties are yet to provide comments, as sought by Reuters.
