IF THE CLAIMS HAVE BEEN TERMINATED BY OFFSET, BANKRUPTCY MAY NOT BE REQUIRED.

In the framework of the bankruptcy case of a citizen (No. A32-20025/18), the debtor applied to the court for a review of the decision to declare him bankrupt due to newly discovered circumstances, indicating the fact of a set-off between the debtor and the creditor.

The court of first instance granted the application, based on the fact that at the time of the decision of 03.12.2018, neither the court nor the debtor was aware of the set-off conducted by the creditor on the application of 09.02.2016, recognizing this circumstance as the basis for reviewing the decision.

The higher courts rejected the claim, having established the debtor's awareness of the offset at the time of the decision of 03.12.2018, as well as pointing out that the debtor had declared and the court evaluated the relevant arguments and recognizing the absence of a newly discovered circumstance.

The debtor appealed to the Supreme Court with a complaint against the decisions of the courts, which was submitted to the board for consideration.

The Supreme Court drew attention to the debtor's argument that the court of appeal did not refute the conclusions of the court of first instance, since, unlike it, it did not evaluate the creditor's statement of set-off, which the debtor refers to as a newly discovered circumstance for him, but the debtor's own statement of set-off, rejected in the decision of 03.12.2018 as inadmissible after the initiation of the case about bankruptcy.


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