Bankruptcy and Restructuring

Represent the interests of a major Austrian bank (top-10 in Russia) in 7 bankruptcy cases of a corporate group and more than 100 parallel court disputes in courts in Moscow, Volgograd, Saratov, Kazan, and others. We managed to return assets to the bankruptcy estate, lift attachments by the Russian Investigative Committee on pledged property, sell all pledged property (3 shopping centers), hold the group's controlling persons liable for subsidiary liability, and fully satisfy the bank's claims under one of the credit agreements. The total amount of satisfied bank claims exceeded 80%.

Represented the interests of a major Russian businessman in the bankruptcy case of his former partner in disputes over assets worth more than 220 million euros within a Russian bankruptcy case, in the USA, and in proceedings for imposing interim measures on the debtor's property in Liechtenstein and Monaco.

Represented a client's interests in 8 parallel bankruptcy cases of companies within the same group engaged in construction materials production. The client's claims were satisfied at 70% through the sale of pledged property, challenging transactions, and applying other mechanisms to replenish the bankruptcy estate.

Protected the interests of the owner of a company – a leader in the sales outsourcing market for retail brands – in a dispute with a former partner who, within his company's bankruptcy case, attempted to challenge the sale of a stake in the client's business at nominal value to regain corporate control over the client's company. The case was won, and the client retained control over the company.

Represented the interests of one of Russia's largest fruit suppliers in a separate dispute to invalidate an agricultural land lease agreement. Proved the market nature of the lease terms, substantiated the inadmissibility of the creditor's contradictory behavior, who first approved the lease and later initiated its challenge. As a result, the court refused to invalidate the lease agreement.

Represented the interests of a major Austrian bank in the bankruptcy case of the debtor's guarantor, initiated by a creditor affiliated with the debtor based on invalid transactions. The developed strategy allowed for the revision, based on newly discovered circumstances, of court acts on including 0.5 billion rubles of the majority creditor's claims in the register of creditors' claims, 4 years after the bankruptcy proceedings were initiated.

Represented a creditor's interests in a dispute to recover over 20 million rubles in losses from an insolvency administrator who violated the order of satisfying creditors' claims and failed to take actions to replenish the bankruptcy estate. The creditor's claims were fully satisfied; as a result of separate proceedings with the administrator's SRO (Self-Regulatory Organization), full enforcement of the decision was achieved.

Represented the interests of a majority creditor in a debtor's bankruptcy case within a series of judicial disputes challenging the results of auctions for the sale of pledged property worth over 250 million rubles. Successfully defended the auction results before the FAS Russia and within court proceedings.

Successfully protected the interests of the chairman of the board of directors of a Russian bank in a dispute to hold him liable for subsidiary liability for over 5 billion rubles. Developed a consolidated defense strategy for the bank's board of directors members, within separate proceedings invalidated all board resolutions approving loans that formed the basis for the DIA's (Deposit Insurance Agency) claims to hold controlling persons liable, and prevented revision of the decision based on newly discovered circumstances due to a conviction against one board member.

Protected a major bank's interests in a series of disputes to hold it liable for subsidiary liability in the amount of 1 billion rubles. Successfully argued that granting the bank pledgee rights and the right to non-acceptance write-off of overdue debt does not confer the status of a controlling person of the debtor, and that refinancing a corporate group to restructure debt is normal banking practice and cannot serve as grounds for holding the bank liable.

Represented the interests of the CEO of a major software developer in a dispute to hold him liable for subsidiary liability in the amount of 6.3 billion rubles. Proved that the transactions forming the basis for the subsidiary liability claim were concluded within intra-group financing, were economically justified, aimed at the group's development and risk distribution. The claim to hold the client liable for subsidiary liability was dismissed.

Represented the interests of a major Austrian bank in three parallel disputes to hold controlling persons liable for subsidiary liability for implementing a dishonest bankruptcy scheme of a corporate group based on fictitious debt. Won decisive victories in all disputes; all controlling persons were held liable for a total of 1 billion rubles; the group's beneficiary was held liable in each bankruptcy case.

Successfully protected the interests of beneficiaries of "dormant companies" against claims for subsidiary liability. Found ways to appeal and revise decisions made over 7 years ago, which formed the basis for initiating bankruptcy cases. As a result, the bankruptcy cases of the "dormant companies" were terminated, and claims for subsidiary liability were dismissed.

Developed and successfully implemented a strategy to recover debt under a loan agreement from a manufacturing company. Successfully recovered the debt, initiated bankruptcy, held the controlling debtor's persons (CDL) liable for subsidiary liability, and attached the CDL's property. As a result of successful negotiations, 100% of the creditor's claims were purchased for 110% of their nominal amount in the register. The debt to the Client was fully repaid.

Developed a bankruptcy risk management strategy for a client owning several shopping centers in Moscow who was in technical default on a loan. Identified transactions that would be deemed invalid in bankruptcy, outlined subsidiary liability risks for top management, and proposed options for changing the shopping center management system to minimize identified risks.

Advised the owner of a major construction holding on business restructuring to minimize potential risks for the beneficiary and current active projects in case of bankruptcy of the holding's troubled companies. Developed and implemented a strategy to transfer key assets and projects to a Closed-End Unit Investment Fund (ZPIF).

Advised a major Belgian logistics company regarding the potential bankruptcy of its Russian subsidiary, considering the political situation and economic sanctions after 2022. Analysis revealed significant subsidiary liability risks for the top management of the Russian company, leading the client to decide on debt restructuring to avoid bankruptcy.

Advised one of Russia's largest banks on issues related to the termination of subordinated loans totaling 200 million euros provided by a pool of international banks.

Advised the owner of a construction company on the possibility of transferring the company's key assets to a competitor as part of a corporate conflict settlement. Considering inevitable bankruptcy in case of asset transfer, outlined subsidiary liability risks for the owner and the company's director. Proposed options for debt restructuring to minimize identified risks.

Advised the Russian "daughter" of an international transport company (UK) on settling debt under economic sanctions with the parent company, for which, after the death of a key shareholder, a decision was made to liquidate and sell assets worldwide.