diff --git a/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactGroupImpl.java b/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactGroupImpl.java
index 430813f50..fabaa2790 100644
--- a/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactGroupImpl.java
+++ b/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactGroupImpl.java
@@ -308,6 +308,37 @@ public MetaContactImpl findMetaContactByMetaUID(String metaUID)
 
         return null;
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Returns a meta contact group this group or some of its subgroups,
+     * that has the specified metaUID. If no such meta contact group exists,
+     * the method would return null.
+     *
+     * @param metaUID the Meta UID of the contact group we're looking for.
+     * @return the MetaContactGroup with the specified UID or null if no such
+     * contact exists.
+     */
+    public MetaContactGroupImpl findMetaContactGroupByMetaUID(String metaUID)
+    {
+        if (metaUID.equals(groupUID))
+            return this;
+
+        //if we didn't find it here, let's try in the subougroups
+        Iterator groupsIter = getSubgroups();
+
+        while( groupsIter.hasNext() )
+        {
+            MetaContactGroupImpl mGroup
+                = (MetaContactGroupImpl) groupsIter.next();
+
+            if (metaUID.equals(mGroup.getMetaUID()))
+                return mGroup;
+            else
+                mGroup.findMetaContactByMetaUID(metaUID);
+        }
+
+        return null;
+    }
 
     /**
      * Returns an iterator over all the protocol specific groups that this
diff --git a/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactListServiceImpl.java b/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactListServiceImpl.java
index a100eba7e..2b85c236e 100644
--- a/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactListServiceImpl.java
+++ b/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/contactlist/MetaContactListServiceImpl.java
@@ -1376,6 +1376,20 @@ public MetaContact findMetaContactByMetaUID(String metaContactID)
         return rootMetaGroup.findMetaContactByMetaUID(metaContactID);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the MetaContactGroup that corresponds to the specified
+     * metaGroupID.
+     *
+     * @param metaGroupID
+     *            a String identifier of a meta contact group.
+     * @return the MetaContactGroup with the specified string identifier or null
+     *          if no such meta contact was found.
+     */
+    public MetaContactGroup findMetaContactGroupByMetaUID(String metaGroupID)
+    {
+        return rootMetaGroup.findMetaContactGroupByMetaUID(metaGroupID);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Goes through the server stored ContactList of the specified operation
      * set, retrieves all protocol specific contacts it contains and makes sure
diff --git a/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/gui/main/contactlist/ContactListModel.java b/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/gui/main/contactlist/ContactListModel.java
index c79f86885..6170a6081 100644
--- a/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/gui/main/contactlist/ContactListModel.java
+++ b/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/gui/main/contactlist/ContactListModel.java
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@
 
 package net.java.sip.communicator.impl.gui.main.contactlist;
 
-import java.awt.Graphics;
-import java.awt.Image;
-import java.awt.image.*;
+import java.awt.*;
 import java.util.*;
 
 import javax.swing.*;
@@ -68,6 +66,8 @@ public ContactListModel(MetaContactListService contactList)
         this.contactList = contactList;
 
         this.rootGroup = this.contactList.getRoot();
+
+        this.initGroupsStatus(rootGroup);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -472,6 +472,10 @@ public void closeGroup(MetaContactGroup group)
             }
 
             this.closedGroups.add(group);
+
+            ConfigurationManager.storeContactListGroupStatus(
+                group.getMetaUID(),
+                true);
         }
     }
 
@@ -485,6 +489,10 @@ public void openGroup(MetaContactGroup group)
         this.closedGroups.remove(group);
         contentAdded(this.indexOf(group.getMetaContact(0)), this.indexOf(group
             .getMetaContact(countContactsAndSubgroups(group) - 1)));
+
+        ConfigurationManager.storeContactListGroupStatus(
+            group.getMetaUID(),
+            false);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -667,4 +675,27 @@ public boolean isContactActive(MetaContact metaContact)
             return this.activeContacts.contains(metaContact);
         }
     }
+    
+    private void initGroupsStatus(MetaContactGroup group)
+    {
+        boolean isClosed = ConfigurationManager
+            .getContactListGroupStatus(group.getMetaUID());
+
+        System.out.println("GROUPATAAAA========" + group.getGroupName()
+            + "=========IS CLOSED ==============" + isClosed);
+        if (isClosed)
+        {
+            closedGroups.add(group);
+        }
+
+        Iterator subgroups = group.getSubgroups();
+
+        while (subgroups.hasNext())
+        {
+            MetaContactGroup subgroup = (MetaContactGroup) subgroups.next();
+            
+            this.initGroupsStatus(subgroup);
+        }
+    }
 }
+
diff --git a/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/gui/utils/ConfigurationManager.java b/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/gui/utils/ConfigurationManager.java
index 25aa083ff..b9cb574f7 100644
--- a/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/gui/utils/ConfigurationManager.java
+++ b/src/net/java/sip/communicator/impl/gui/utils/ConfigurationManager.java
@@ -636,6 +636,81 @@ public static String getChatRoomStatus(
         return null;
     }
     
+    public static void storeContactListGroupStatus( String groupID,
+                                                    boolean status)
+    {
+        String prefix = "net.java.sip.communicator.impl.gui.contactlist.groups";
+
+        List groups = configService
+            .getPropertyNamesByPrefix(prefix, true);
+
+        Iterator groupsIter = groups.iterator();
+
+        boolean isExistingGroup = false;
+        while(groupsIter.hasNext())
+        {
+            String groupRootPropName
+                = (String) groupsIter.next();
+
+            String storedID
+                = configService.getString(groupRootPropName);
+
+            if(storedID.equals(groupID))
+            {
+                configService.setProperty(  groupRootPropName
+                    + ".isClosed",
+                    Boolean.toString(status));
+
+                isExistingGroup = true;
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if(!isExistingGroup)
+        {
+            String groupNodeName
+                = "group" + Long.toString(System.currentTimeMillis());
+
+            String groupPackage = prefix + "." + groupNodeName;
+
+            configService.setProperty(  groupPackage,
+                                        groupID);
+
+            configService.setProperty(  groupPackage
+                                            + ".isClosed",
+                                        Boolean.toString(status));
+        }
+    }
+    
+    public static boolean getContactListGroupStatus(String groupID)
+    {
+        String prefix = "net.java.sip.communicator.impl.gui.contactlist.groups";
+
+        List groups = configService
+            .getPropertyNamesByPrefix(prefix, true);
+
+        Iterator groupsIter = groups.iterator();
+
+        while(groupsIter.hasNext())
+        {
+            String groupRootPropName
+                = (String) groupsIter.next();
+
+            String storedID
+                = configService.getString(groupRootPropName);
+
+            if(storedID.equals(groupID))
+            {
+                String status = (String) configService
+                    .getProperty(  groupRootPropName + ".isClosed");
+
+                return new Boolean(status).booleanValue();
+            }
+        }
+        
+        return false;
+    }
+
     private static class ConfigurationChangeListener
             implements PropertyChangeListener
     {