Russian court orders Mauritanian co to return 3 trawlers to Russian co

St. Petersburg's 13th Arbitration Court of Appeals has ruled that Mauritania's Societe De Promotion De La Peche (SPP) should return three trawlers to Russia's state-owned Arkhangelsk Trawler Fleet (Arkhangelsk Tralovy Flot), the law firm representing the Russian company, EPAM, said Thursday.

The court rejected SPP's appeal against an earlier court decision that ordered the transfer of the trawlers to the Arkhangelsk Trawler Fleet.

The court rejected the appeal because SPP's officials failed to confirm their right to represent the company in the court.

The Arbitration Court of the Murmansk Region in June upheld a lawsuit by the Arkhangelsk Trawler Fleet and the Federal Property Management Agency that sought the return of the three Russian trawlers to the Arkhangelsk Trawler Fleet.

The trawlers were transferred to SPP in 2004 to pay for the Arkhangelsk Trawler Fleet's debt to the company following a decision of a Mauritanian court.

The Arbitration Court of the Murmansk Region ruled that the trawlers were transferred illegally and the Mauritanian court did not have power to seize them from the Russian company, prompting SPP to file an appeal.