Supreme Court of Russia resolved the issue of lease payments in bankruptcy

The highest court of Russia considered the case on the complaint of the leasing company, the payments in favor of which were canceled by the lower courts at the request of the debtor’s manager. The judges considered the existence of such transfers on the eve and during the bankruptcy period as a preference for one debtor over others, but the Supreme Court of Russia came to a different conclusion.

The manager filed an application challenging the payments to the leasing company. The courts of three instances agreed with the applicant and satisfied the claim. Then the company, which received payment under the lease agreement, applied to the Supreme Court of Russia, which sided with it.

The highest court reminded colleagues of the peculiarities of the execution of the lease agreement.

The fact is that when the receipt of payments ceases, the leasing company has the right to take the leased items away, since, according to the law, it belongs to it until the moment of the final settlement under the agreement. Consequently, within the framework of the lease agreement, the company will receive satisfaction of its claims in the form of the full amount of payments or the leased asset in in any case.

Thus, the debtor's manager was faced with a choice: to continue to pay for the lease and get ownership of the subject of the contract, thereby replenishing the bankruptcy estate, or to refuse to pay and return the redeemed item back.

Summarizing its position, the Supreme Court of Russia emphasized that in the situation under consideration the courts should have carefully considered the circumstances of the case, taken into account for what purposes the debtor continued to pay, and not consider them as ordinary payments in the framework of civil circulation (decision of September 1, 2021, №. 305 -ES20-8917 (3) in case № A40-185154 / 2017).