Consideration of NTV case postponed

The Moscow Arbitration Court has postponed the consideration of the claim of the Tax Ministry to liquidate NTV television till February, 2. The court has satisfied the petition of NTV on a joint consideration of the case “due to its significance”. Spokeswoman for NTV Geralina Liubarskaya stressed that the audience of NTV reached 110 million people, and the company is broadcasting in half of Russian regions. Speaking about tax payments of the company, it was stressed that NTV television made tax payments worth $14m in 2000, RBC announces. Representatives of Tax Revision Office spoke against the joint consideration of the case, and regarded NTV petition as “retardation of the trial”. The legal experts of the Tax Revision Office reminded that in the Arbitration Court of first instance the judge usually considered cases personally, RIA Novosti reports. Nevertheless, the chairman of Moscow Arbitration court satisfied the petition.