THE SUPREME COURT EXPLAINED THE PROCEDURE FOR CHALLENGING THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE DECEASED IN BANKRUPTCY

On March 23, a meeting of the Judicial Board of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on economic Disputes in the bankruptcy case of the Kraft Group company (No. A40-151643/2020) was held. A complaint against the decision of three judicial instances was filed by the bankruptcy trustee Vyacheslav Bashmakov. It was about challenging the transfer of funds that the organization transferred to an individual entrepreneur before he died and was declared bankrupt.

The deal between Kraft Group and Alexey Kolomnikov was concluded in 2014. According to it, the powers of the sole head of the company were transferred to the entrepreneur. And in March-April 2020, 16.32 million was transferred from the organization's account to Kolomnikov as a reward. At the same time, the businessman himself died on May 17 of the same year, and on September 1, 2020, the creditors' claim for bankruptcy of Kraft Group was accepted by the court for consideration.

The businessman's bankruptcy case started in 2021 (No. A41-32321/2021). Taking into account the death of Kolomnikov that had occurred earlier, the court introduced the implementation procedure in relation to his hereditary mass (Article 223.1). The Supreme Court drew the attention of the participants in the dispute that in such cases, bankruptcy should be carried out as if the businessman himself were still alive. That is, debts must be repaid through insolvency procedures.

Bashmakov, having discovered the transfer of a large amount of money in favor of Kolomnikov, asked the arbitration to apply the consequences of the invalidity of the transaction. To the bankruptcy trustee, the fact of the transfer of funds indicated a transaction with a preference. However, the courts of three instances refused the petition, pointing to the death of the businessman and the absence of heirs (Article 150 of the APC, paragraph 6, Part 1).

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation sided with Bashmakov and completely canceled the verdicts of three judicial instances, sending a separate dispute for new consideration. In its Ruling (No. 305-ES22-13478), the Economic Board referred to the Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation No. 9 of May 29, 2012. According to him, inheritance includes not only property rights, but also obligations (Article 1112 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The Supreme Court clarified that nothing prevented the arbitration courts from satisfying the manager's petition and declaring the potentially contested transaction invalid. In this case, a restorative claim would be made to Kolomnikov's inheritance. Since it is managed by a financial manager, it was necessary to involve him in the litigation, allowing him to represent the interests of the deceased defendant.

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