5.  The applicant was born in 1930 and lives in Taganrog. 6.  On 27 April 1998 the applicant made a deposit in the amount of 7,218.00 United States dollars (USD) with a private bank, Bank Rossiyskiy Kredit ( “the Bank”). 7.  On 7 September 1998 the Bank repaid USD 1,200 to the applicant. 8.  On 16 September 1998 the applicant tried unsuccessfully to recover the outstanding amount. 9.  On an unspecified date the applicant brought an action against the Bank seeking the withdrawal of the deposit, payment of the interest and compensation for non-pecuniary damage. 10.  On 21 September 1998 the Taganrog Town Court of the Rostov-on-Don Region granted the applicant's claims in part and ordered the Bank to pay the applicant USD 6,085.20. The court dismissed the claim for compensation for non-pecuniary damage. 11.  On 30 September 1999 the Presidium of the Rostov Regional Court quashed the judgment of 21 September 1998 by way of supervisory review and remitted the matter to the Town Court for fresh consideration. It appears that on 14 March 2000 the Town Court dismissed the applicant's claims without consideration on the merits. 12.  On 5 December 1998 the applicant accepted the Bank's offer to have the outstanding amount converted into Russian roubles (RUB) at the rate of RUB 9.33 to USD 1 and to have it transferred to his account with another bank. On 5 March 1999 the amount was transferred to his account in the Sberbank. 13.  On 1 April 1999 the Sberbank paid the applicant RUB 54,148.54. 14.  On 19 October 1999 the management of the Bank was taken over by the Agency on Restructuring of Depositary Institutions (the “ARKO”), set up by the State in accordance with applicable legislation aimed at mitigating the consequences of the financial crisis of 1998. 15.  On 15 May 2000 the association of the Bank's creditors adopted the terms and conditions of a friendly settlement agreement between the Bank's creditors, the Bank and the ARKO. The agreement substantially limited the Bank's liability before its creditors. The Bank had to repay its creditors only the amounts of the deposits. No interest or late payment fees were to be paid. On 15 August 2000 the Moscow Commercial Court approved the friendly settlement agreement. 16.  On an unspecified date the applicant brought an action against the Bank seeking compensation for his pecuniary losses arising from the Bank's failure to repay the deposit promptly. He also sought payment of interest, late payment fee and non-pecuniary damage. 17.  On 5 October 1999 the Taganrog Town Court of the Rostov Region dismissed the applicant's claims. The said judgment was quashed on appeal by the Rostov Regional Court on 7 June 2000. 18.  On 13 September 2000 the Town Court dismissed the applicant's claims. On 6 December the Regional Court quashed the judgment of 13 September 2000 on appeal and remitted the matter for reconsideration. 19.  On 28 March 2001 the Town Court considered the applicant's claims for the third time. The Bank's representative was present and made submissions to the court asking it to dismiss the claims in full as manifestly ill-founded. She asserted, inter alia, that the applicant had agreed for his monies to be transferred to another bank and accordingly had forfeited his right to claim the interest. No reference to the friendly settlement agreement was made. The Town Court granted the applicant's claims in part and awarded him RUB 23,535.04 (USD 819.19). The applicant appealed. On 22 August 2001 the Rostov Regional Court upheld the judgment on appeal. 20.  On 24 October 2001 bailiffs instituted enforcement proceedings. 21.  On an unspecified date the Bank requested the Taganrog Town Court to discontinue the enforcement proceedings in respect of the judgment of 28 March 2001 as upheld on 22 August 2001. The Bank indicated that according to the friendly settlement agreement of 15 May 2000 the Bank only had to repay to its creditors the sums deposited with the Bank and that no interest or fees had to be paid. 22.  The applicant contested the Bank's arguments. He asserted that he had not been included in the list of the Bank's creditors, and that he had not been invited to participate in the friendly settlement negotiations. Nor had he signed the friendly settlement agreement. 23.  On 24 December 2001 the Taganrog Town Court granted the Bank's request and discontinued the enforcement proceedings in respect of the judgment of 28 March 2001 as upheld on 22 August 2001. 24.  On 18 December 2002 the Rostov Regional Court upheld the judgment on appeal. The relevant part of the judgment read as follows:
“Due to the fact that the Association of the Bank's creditors had acted on behalf of all creditors, the [town] court correctly concluded that the friendly settlement was binding on the applicant, although he had not taken part in the creditors' meetings. According to the submitted record, although the applicant had not been included in the list of the Bank's creditors, the court decision by which the friendly settlement had been approved had become final, and thus the [town] court correctly discontinued the enforcement proceedings because the friendly settlement had been approved. The complaints that the court judgment [of 28 March 2001] had to be enforced cannot be taken into account because after the friendly settlement had been adopted, the obligation to enforce the judgment was changed into new obligations according to the provisions of the friendly settlement. As follows from the ARKO's letter, when Mr Margushin presents a copy of the court judgment [of 28 March 2001], the necessary changes will be made to the list of the claims of the Bank's creditors and the debt will be repaid according to the established procedure.” 25.  On an unspecified date the applicant requested the Bank to pay him the judgment debt. On 12 May 2003 the chief accountant of the Bank informed the applicant that the Bank was under no obligation to repay him the requested amount, given that the applicant had recovered the original deposit through the Sberbank.