non-denominated Russian roubles (RUR).
18. On 1 March 2001 the applicant brought an action against the Russian Government, seeking to recover 8,236,498 Russian roubles (RUB) as compensation for the bonds. The amount was calculated as the nominal value of the bonds multiplied by the official inflation co-efficient.
19. On 7 May 2001 the Commercial Court of the Amur Region issued a decision to dismiss the applicant's claim. It noted that the federal law establishing the procedure for redemption of Urozhay-90 bonds had not yet been adopted and their maturity date had not been determined. The Commercial Court held that the plaintiff had not yet obtained the right to lodge this claim.
20. On 20 June 2001 the Appeals Division of the Commercial Court of the Amur Region quashed the decision of 7 May 2001 on procedural grounds and remitted the claim for a new examination.
21. On 27 August 2001 the Commercial Court of the Amur Region gave judgment. It established that the Ministry of Finance, rather than the Russian Government, should have been the proper defendant in the applicant's claim for damages because the Russian Government had not committed any unlawful actions. As the applicant refused to substitute the original defendant or to join the Ministry of Finance as a co-defendant and as the court was not competent to do so of its own motion, it determined to disallow the applicant's claim.
22. On 22 October 2001 the Appeals Division of the Commercial Court of the Amur Region upheld the judgment of 27 August 2001.
23. Counsel for the applicant, Mr Okunev, submitted a cassation appeal. On 23 November 2001 the Federal Commercial Court of the Far-Eastern Circuit fixed the hearing date for 11 December 2001. Mr Okunev had been notified of that decision on 3 December 2001 by registered mail.
24. On 11 December 2001 the Federal Commercial Court heard oral submissions by Mr Okunev and adjourned the hearing until 17 December 2001.
25. On 17 December 2001 Mr Okunev did not appear at court. In the absence of any valid reason for his absence, the Federal Commercial Court proceeded with the hearing and upheld, in the final instance, the judgments of 27 August and 22 October 2001. It confirmed that the actions of the Russian Government had been lawful and that the Ministry of Finance was responsible for the debts chargeable to the treasury.
II. Relevant domestic law and practice
26. On 26 July 1990 the RSFSR Council of Ministers adopted Resolution No. 259 on urgent measures for increasing the purchase of agricultural products harvested in 1990 and for ensuring their safe keeping. Its relevant parts resolved as follows:
I. Measures to increase the independence of decision-making by collective and Soviet farms concerning the sale of the harvest
"1. To authorise all manufacturers of agricultural produce to sell the surplus of such produce that remains after delivery under existing agreements... to procurers or other consumers at negotiated prices...
2. To declare inadmissible any restrictions on the sale or shipment of agricultural produce to consumers in autonomous districts or regions of the RSFSR under paragraph 1 of the present resolution... Should local councils introduce such restrictions in their territories, the RSFSR Council of Ministers may stop issuing Urozhay-90 bonds or delivering goods on the basis of them in those territories..."
II. Measures to encourage the sale of agricultural produce to the State through the reciprocal sale of goods in high demand
"7. To begin issuing, in 1990, Urozhay-90 bonds to employees of collective and Soviet farms, other agro-industrial enterprises and organisations, peasants' farms and owners of personal subsidiary land plots in respect of agricultural produce sold to the State.
To determine that the bonds ce
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