An appellate court in Serbia has relegated a trial on the extradition of entretreneur Tsvetan Vasilev to a lower instance, private bTV station reports.

Vasilev has been in Serbia since 2014, following the run on his Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank or KTB) which led to the bank's collapse. Bulgarian authorities have been demanding his extradition.

The reason for the court's move, which consists in passing the case down to the Higher Court in Belgrade, is the need to collect more evidence.

It means a final ruling is not expected before 2017.

Under Serbian law, regardless of the pending decision, the final word lies with the Justice Minister.
 
Vasilev is accused of the alleged embezzlement of BGN 206 M from the bank, but cannot be formally indicted while not in the country.