French court to rule Monday on Russian tall ship

BREST, France (Reuters) -- A French court said Friday it would rule Monday whether to release the Russian tall ship Sedov, impounded last week in a commercial dispute between Moscow and a Swiss company.

The Sedov was impounded last week at the request of Swiss trading company Noga, which says Russia owes it $800 million. Moscow disputes the claim.

State prosecutor Yves Ledu asked the court, in the western port of Brest, to declare the seizure illegal and let the four-masted training vessel sail home.

Michel Quimbert, the lawyer for the ship's owners, the Technical University in the northern Russian town of Murmansk, argued in court that the university, as an autonomous state body with its own budget, could not be held accountable for any debts incurred by Russia.

As requested by a judge, the four-masted training ship sailed back into Brest from a four-day cruise for Friday's one-day hearing.

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