The Federal Tribunal ruled in favour of Adamov, who has been battling an October decision by Swiss justice authorities to hand him over to the United States.

The move was hailed in Moscow but the United States expressed disappointment.

The Swiss justice ministry said it was in discussion with Russian authorities to organise the extradition "as soon as possible."

It did not give further details, but Adamov's Swiss lawyer Stefan Wehrenberg said the handover could take place within 15 days under extradition rules.

Adamov, 66, has been in jail in Switzerland since he was arrested in the capital Bern on May 2 at the request of US authorities, who then filed for his extradition.

Russia's nuclear minister from 1998 to 2001, Adamov is suspected of fraud and money laundering in connection with nine million dollars sent by the US government to help Russia improve its nuclear safety after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Shortly after he was detained, Russia filed its own request for his extradition, on the grounds that he allegedly skimmed 17 million dollars from state coffers while he was a minister.

Russian officials were believed to be concerned that Adamov could reveal state secrets if he was sent to the United States.

Russia's foreign ministry was "satisfied" by the decision and expected the handover to take place shortly, a spokesman in Moscow said Thursday.

But a diplomat at the US embassy in Moscow, quoted by the Swiss ATS news agency, said that while Washington respected the court's decision, "it is nonetheless very disappointed".

"Yevgeny Adamov is accused of offences committed on American soil, specifically of embezzling US taxpayers' money which was designed to allow Moscow to improve the safety of its nuclear installations," the diplomat said.

Adamov, who denies the accusations against him, said in August that he would accept extradition to Russia. Wehrenberg said Thursday that his client was looking forward to defending himself against both the Russian and US accusations.

In a unanimous December 22 verdict made public Thursday, the Federal Tribunal's five judges decided that sending the former minister to Russia made more sense because of Adamov's nationality and the fact that his homeland was the "centre of gravity" of his alleged offences.

Taking international law into account, the Russian extradition request should take priority over the US demand, it ruled.

Facing competing extradition requests, Swiss justice authorities approved the handover to Russia in August.

In October, however, the justice ministry decided that the US extradition request should take priority on the grounds that Russia does not hand over its citizens to foreign jurisdictions.

That would have prevented Adamov from being extradited to the United States even after a possible trial in Russia, Swiss authorities said at the time.

The October decision was heavily criticised in Russia.

Russian justice authorities have given a formal guarantee that they will also investigate the US charges against Adamov, the Federal Tribunal noted in its ruling.

The US government said in May that Adamov and an associate, Mark Kaushansky, 53, had been indicted by a US federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 20 counts.

Adamov is part-owner of a consulting firm based in the US state and a former director of Russian nuclear design and research institute NIKIET.

US investigators believe the two men created a scheme to siphon off funds, using shell companies with accounts in the United States, Monaco and France.

US law provides for a maximum potential sentence of 60 years in prison and a fine of 1.7 million dollars for Adamov, and up to 180 years in prison and a fine of five million dollars or both for Kaushansky, according to US officials.

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