Major creditors of Russia's second-biggest airline, Transaero, have begun to file lawsuits against the company as it collapses under a 250 billion ruble ($4 billion) debt pile.
Transaero's largest lenders had held back after a company-saving takeover deal by Russia's flag carrier, Aeroflot, fell through last month.
But on Monday, a bankruptcy suit by Alfa-Bank, one of Russian largest lenders, was registered with the Arbitration Court in St. Petersburg, the Interfax news agency reported. Earlier that day the country's largest bank, Sberbank, also filed a bankruptcy case against the company, according to the news agency.
And Transaero's largest creditor, state-owned VTB bank, also plans a lawsuit against the airline, Interfax cited the bank's chief, Andrei Kostin, as saying.