Supreme Court eliminated a problem of uncertainty in bankruptcy case

Supreme Court eliminated a problem of uncertainty in bankruptcy case

Supreme Court eliminated a problem of  uncertainty in bankruptcy case
The Judicial Board for Economic Disputes of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation had to deal with a dilemma related to the binding nature of court decisions encountered in bankruptcy cases.  On April 20, 2022, the judges issued a ruling related to case No. À53-24369/2019.

On July 15, 2019, employees of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation initiated an insolvency case against “Mettrade” company. In August of the same year, the court passed a sentence on Mr. Mkrtchyan, who controlled the property of the company.  The accounts and other property of the convict remained under arrest, and he himself was fined for 90 thousand and sentenced to 9 years in prison.

At the same time, a civil claim on the part of a non-profit organization (foundation) was satisfied.  The claims amounted to almost 198.5 million rubles.  In its appeal, the Industrial Assets Fund asked the court to exclude 15 real estate objects (including 3 land plots and 12 non-residential buildings) from the bankruptcy estate.

As a result, the arrest was lifted, the judge allowed the recovery of the Fund's property from the organization, which was in a state of bankruptcy.  At the same time, the court prohibited the use of this property for any other purposes, except as part of a specific enforcement proceeding.  The arbitration court subsequently took the same position, pointing out the impossibility of using this property in the framework of the general bankruptcy proceedings of the company.
However, the Court of Appeal and the District Court found such a decision unfair.
The courts decided that the ownership of the real estate was assigned to the “Mettrade” company and no one challenged it, which meant that it was wrong to exclude it from the bankruptcy estate.

The Court of General Jurisdiction, ruling on the Foundation's civil suit, actually determined the fate of the disputed property.  Thus, it would be a wrong step to make any transactions with it within the framework of the general requirements of the bankruptcy law.

The judges of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in the end indicated that there were no grounds to cancel the verdict of the first instance.  The decision of the Rostov arbitration court was upheld, and the verdicts of other instances were cancelled.

28.04.2022