THE MANAGER WAS DENIED A HALF-BILLION BONUS

On October 3, 2022, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation received a complaint from Sinco Trade, one of the independent creditors of the Volga Terminal, which was declared insolvent (case No. A57-10966/2019). The firm was not satisfied with the amount of 518.4 million rubles accrued to the bankruptcy trustee (KU) Ivan Baskov as a reward.

The arguments of "Sinco Trade" seemed to judge Sergey Samuilov worthy of attention. On April 6, the complaint was submitted for consideration to the Judicial Board for Economic Disputes of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. On April 28, the Economic Board overturned the verdicts of the arbitration courts of all previous instances, sending the case to the Saratov arbitration.

Volzhsky Terminal began to go bankrupt in May 2019 at the initiative of Rusagro Group of Companies (a collateral lender), and in July the company received the status of insolvent. On August 27, 2021, all the company's assets (both those that were and were not pledged) were sold at auction in a single lot for 11,509,689 802.23 rubles.

Part of the amount (1.1 billion) went to meet the company's non-collateral obligations and current payments. The remaining part (90.1% of the proceeds) was transferred to a separate account, as required by Article 138 of the relevant law. About 1.6 million rubles were spent on bidding expenses (the main part of the amount was payment for the appraiser's work).

Initially, it was a question of incomplete payment of the debt of Rusagro Group in the amount of 9.85 billion (95% of the total amount), since "moratorium" interest was accrued on the principal debt to the collateral creditor. However, at the beginning of 2022, it was proved that they were illegally accrued (Definition of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation No. 303-ES20-v10154 of 08/23/2021). Managed to return 1.3 billion rubles. The collateral creditor's claims were fully satisfied.

Questions from independent creditors were raised by the petition of Baskov, who applied to the court for the remuneration established by law in the amount of 518.4 million rubles (5% of the amount of the bankrupt's sold property). From a formal point of view, the amount of the premium did not cause any complaints, conforming to the provisions of the bankruptcy legislation (clause 13 of Article 20.6, clause 2, 6 of Article 138). The arbitration courts of three instances found no reason to reduce its size, since the scope of the duties of the CU in this case does not play a role. His conscientiousness and reasonableness are important.

However, this solution of the issue did not suit the company "Sinco Trade". Her lawyers considered Baskov's personal labor costs not corresponding to more than 0.5 billion remuneration. In addition, KU illegally transferred 1.3 billion "moratorium" interest. Because of this, independent creditors could be left without any compensation at all. The money was returned, but already on their initiative and as a result of their litigation, in which the role of the bankruptcy trustee was very passive.

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has not yet published a reasoned conclusion on the case. What exactly became the basis for the verdict remains a mystery. Experts suggest that the judges may have found some specific circumstances in the case, allowing to reduce the amount of the award. What amount of remuneration Baskov should expect will become clear in the future.

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