A foreign company declared bankrupt in Russia for the first time

A foreign company declared bankrupt in Russia for the first time

A foreign company declared bankrupt in Russia for the first time
The arbitration court of the Chelyabinsk region declared bankruptcy of the debt recovery company ‘Pandora consulting’ LC, registered in the state of Saint Kitts and Nevis.  The organization owed Vitaly Nakhabin legal expenses in several bankruptcy cases.  Judge Natalya Golubtsova actually had to apply the rules of private international law to the bankruptcy of a foreign company for the first time.

‘Pandora consulting’ LC was registered on August 20, 2013 on the Caribbean island of Nevis.  The only beneficiary of the organization was the Russian Igor Grechanik.  After the company opened an account in a Russian bank, the tax authorities registered it, having assigned a TIN.

At the end of January 2019, the authorities of the island state liquidated the company at the place of its registration, deleting it from the trade register.  Vitaly Nakhabin, as evidenced by the court practice, was actively litigating with an organization in Russia, trying to recover court costs and remuneration due to him in various cases (No. A50-6932 / 2017, No. A50-19739 / 2017), where the debt recovery company acted as a creditor.

However, the roles have changed.  Now ‘Pandora Consulting’ acted as a debtor, and Vitaly Nakhabin tried to collect debts from it at the expense of the organization's receivables in relations with other Russian enterprises.
But in December 2021, the Federal Tax Service deregistered the company.  Appealing to this fact, the defendant tried to argue his position on the impossibility of applying the bankruptcy law to him.
Natalya Golubtsova thought otherwise.  Applying the general norms according to which bankruptcy procedures are introduced for Russian organizations, the judge decided to introduce bankruptcy proceedings not to the organization itself, but to its property mass in Russia (as if it were the hereditary mass of a “non-legal entity”).

In addition, the court did not agree to recognize the organization liquidated.  Indeed, according to the norms of the civil law, a foreign company in the Russian Federation is subject to the conflict of laws rule of Article 1202 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes the personal law of the organization.  For ‘Pandora Consulting’ LC it is the right of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The Chelyabinsk Arbitration Court had to study the provisions of the articles of the Nevis Island Companies Law and find out that a company was considered to exist three years after liquidation in the situation of settling disputes or fulfilling obligations.
Moreover, if a lawsuit is initiated during this period, the firm is officially considered to continue its existence until the court decision in the case is executed.

As a result, the arbitration court opened bankruptcy proceedings in the case of ‘Pandora Consulting’ LC.  Vitaly Brevnov was appointed as an interim manager.  He must submit a report on the case at a hearing scheduled for October 6, 2022.

20.05.2022