The U.S. Embassy has shut its doors to the Patriarshy Dom Tours company and is evaluating its contracts with the firm after a Russian court ruled against the firm's founders' previous company in a lawsuit brought by an American former partner, embassy officials said.
On Friday, the embassy issued a statement discontinuing the "informal arrangement" under which Patriarshy Dom Tours was being given part-time use of office space.
"Patriarshy Dom Tours have been informed that they no longer enjoy access to the embassy office space," embassy spokesman Richard Hoagland said Monday.
The embassy's move follows the Wednesday decision by a Moscow court against Patriarchi Dom, the tour company Patriarshy Dom Tour founders Alexandra Lanskaya and Tatyana Piontkovskaya set up with American Patrice Gancie in 1993.
The three fell out last year over the management and ownership of the business, which organized guided tours and provided Russian language tutoring to tourists and expatriates.
When negotiations between Gancie and her two Russian partners failed to produce an amicable parting in July, Lanskaya and Piontkovskaya set up Patriarshy Dom Tours and continued to provide tours and language lessons.
In December, Gancie went to court, which ruled that Patriarchi Dom should compensate her for her stake in the old company. That decision was upheld last week.
Lanskaya and Piontkovskaya contend they are not liable to pay Gancie because they no longer represent Patriarchi Dom. They do, however, plan to appeal the court decision.
Many services offered by Patriarshy Dom Tours were frequently used by employees and guests of the U.S. Embassy. Although Patriarshy Dom Tours contend that it is not a successor to the original Patriarchi Dom, embassy officials disagree.
"They changed the name of the company, but it continues the same business," embassy spokesman Hoagland said.
Patriarshy Dom Tours has formal contracts for language lessons with several embassy offices, and the embassy is now considering what to do about those contracts.
"We are checking with lawyers to see what we can legally do," Hoagland said.
Gancie's camp, which has been sharply critical of the embassy's failure to sever its links with the company after Gancie filed her lawsuit, welcomed the embassy's decision.
"The action of the embassy was consistent with the court decision in favor of Patrice Gancie," said Christopher Cripps, administrative director at the law firm Steptoe and Johnson, which represents Gancie's legal interests in the dispute. "We hope it will affect the way people will see this company."
Patriarshy Dom Tours officials declined to comment, except to say they would be trying to arrange a direct meeting with a senior embassy official.