Bankruptcy moratorium 2022: what you need to know

At the end of March, at a meeting of the Government of the Russian Federation, a decision to introduce a new moratorium on the initiation of insolvency proceedings in the country was announced.  It applies to both legal entities and individuals, including those who have the status of individual entrepreneurs.  Here are some features of the introduced measure and its consequences.

In-force period

The moratorium was introduced for the period from April 1 to October 1, 2022, which means that it will be in force for six calendar months.

Who is subject to the Bankruptcy Moratorium?

The decree names companies, individual entrepreneurs, as well as ordinary citizens as persons subject to the moratorium. At the same time, the only exceptions are debtors-developers (construction companies), the objects of which are already included in the register of problematic ones as of April 1, 2022.

The principles of work of bankruptcy moratorium

The imposition of a moratorium means that applications of creditors on the insolvency of debtors will not be accepted for six months. Thus, during the specified period, it will not be possible to initiate an insolvency case if there is a debt to the creditor. At the same time, the decision does not say anything about the impossibility to initiate bankruptcy for debtors themselves.

Reasons for imposing a moratorium

The government hopes to support both entrepreneurs and citizens in the face of external sanctions pressure in this way. This was also done with the aim of protecting business and jobs, as well as providing market participants with time to strengthen finances and search for new sources of income.

The full text of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation can be found here.