MOSCOW (Reuters) – A presiding judge at the Moscow Arbitration Court on Friday rejected a Goldman Sachs request to dismiss a $6.3 million lawsuit by Russia’s Otkritie, which is owned by state bank VTB.
A lawyer for Goldman had argued on Thursday that the Moscow court had no jurisdiction and the case should instead be heard in London.
Otkritie says Goldman owes the money in connection with a derivatives agreement.
At Otkritie’s request, Goldman’s assets in Russia, including its 5% stake in Russia’s largest toy retailer, Detsky Mir, were sequestered last month.
Otkritie says in a filing with the court that Goldman cited sanctions introduced against Moscow by the United States and Britain over Ukraine in failing to settle the debt.
The court said it was setting the hearing in the substantive case for Oct. 5.
Reuters has requested comment from both parties.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Alexander Smith)
