THE DISTRICT COURT PROTECTED THE BANKRUPT FROM DOUBLE LIABILITY

THE DISTRICT COURT PROTECTED THE BANKRUPT FROM DOUBLE LIABILITY

THE DISTRICT COURT PROTECTED THE BANKRUPT FROM DOUBLE LIABILITY
On July 29, 2024, the Cassation instance (AS of the Far Eastern District) issued a ruling on the complaint sent by BM-Bank and VTB against Alexander Lepikhov. In it, the applicants asked to cancel the ruling of the Khabarovsk arbitration court issued in December 2023 and the appeal (6th AAC), which in March upheld this act (case No. A73-10777/2019). The District Court granted the complaint, sending the lawsuit for a new review.

The LAN company began to go bankrupt in June 2019. As part of the process, on September 27, 2021, Lepikhov was involved in a subsidy. In addition, losses in the amount of 2.8 billion rubles were recovered from the entrepreneur. And a year ago (by a ruling dated August 29, 2023), the court determined the amount of subsidiary liability, adding a debt of 233.6 million to Lepikhov.

Financial manager Diana Marenkova, who is dealing with the bankruptcy of a businessman, and his creditor BM-Bank filed petitions with arbitration in November 2023. They demanded to review the definition of the Khabarovsk arbitration, issued on September 27, 2021.

The applicants considered that the businessman was the sole founder and head of the LAN company, and therefore the issue of collecting damages from him should be resolved differently, taking into account the newly discovered circumstances (the verdict of the court, which established the amount of the subsidy). They considered it wrong to apply two measures of liability, collecting damages and a subsidy from Lepikhov, referring to the uniform legal nature of these sanctions.

However, the courts of two instances refused them. It was pointed out that the grounds for these liability measures are different. The losses were recovered on the basis of article 61.20, and the subsidiary was recovered on the basis of article 61.11 of the Bankruptcy Law. The courts considered that the applicants had missed the deadlines allowing them to appeal the act of August 29, 2023 on appeal.

The cassation did not agree with the lower courts, referring to the existence of grounds for adjusting the amount of Lepikhov's liability as a controlling debtor under the act, which established its larger size. The court drew attention to the fact that this is not about corporate relations, but about the institution of KDL responsibility in the bankruptcy process.

The District Court considered that the judicial authorities had not fully established the range of circumstances relevant to the case. Now the Khabarovsk arbitration court will have to determine the circle of persons whose interests may be affected by court acts, as well as assess the applicants' arguments. According to experts, the act of cassation will allow observing the principle of non bis in idem, known since the time of Ancient Rome, that is, the inadmissibility of double punishment for the same thing.

06.08.2024