- INTRODUCTION
A simple, clear and effective insolvency regime is a vital element in attracting both domestic and foreign investment in a jurisdiction like Russia. To be effective, an insolvency regime has to balance the interests of various classes of creditors, as well as the interests of creditors generally in relation to other interested parties, such as shareholders or participants. An insolvency regime is expected to give the debtor an opportunity to discharge its obligations and continue its business activity.
For the attention of company managers and financial, tax, legal and litigation departments.
Pepeliaev Group advises of the publication, on 13 February 2013, of Resolution No. 11 of the Plenum of the Russian Supreme Arbitration Court (SAC) dated 25 January 2013 “On paying value added tax when the property of an insolvent debtor is disposed of”. This resolves, to the benefit of creditors and buyers of bankrupt companies’ property, issues relating to the procedure and regime for paying VAT.
Resolution of the Ninth Commercial (‘Arbitration’) Court of Appeal
dated 19 June 2012
Parties in dispute
Receiver of Digital Electronics CJSC
Digital Electronics CJSC (the “Debtor”)
SITRONICS OJSC (a party to the challenged transaction with the Debtor, the “Creditor”)
Narrative
The issue of the fee for an insolvency practitioner affects every single person involved in insolvency (bankruptcy) proceedings. It is known that the receiver’s fee is generally paid out of the debtor’s assets. Accordingly, the higher the fee, the fewer the assets that remain to satisfy creditors’ claims, restore the debtor to solvency and distribute the liquidation surplus among the members.
The business community in Russia is going to see an increase in default claims due to the mounting credit crisis. Many companies will not survive in such an environment and a wave of insolvencies is likely to ensue. The prospect of this has forced the State Duma to focus on developing a robust response. New bills, which would transform the Russian insolvency landscape, are currently under consideration.
This legal update gives an overview of the key amendments to Federal Law No 127 - FZ "On insolvency (bankruptcy)" dated 26 October 2002 (the Insolvency Law) and Federal Law No 40 - FZ "On insolvency (bankruptcy) of credit organisations" dated 25 February 1999 (the Insolvency Law of Credit Organisations).
On 17 April 2009 the Russian State Duma adopted Federal Law No 73 - FZ - "On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation" (the 73-FZ Law).
The Russian insolvency legislation mainly consists of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (the Civil Code) and the Federal Law No. 127-FZ on insolvency (bankruptcy) dated 26 October 2002 (the Insolvency Law), the principal legislation on insolvency in the Russian Federation.
Summary
A new set of uniform rules for challenging transactions in insolvency and clarifying the circumstances in which debtors must file for insolvency has been introduced in Russia.
Background
The Amendments to the Enforcement Act (“Official Gazette of RS”, No. 54/2019) came into force on 3 August 2019 (“Amendments“) but will, all but one, become applicable only on 1 January 2020. The following are the main novelties:
Dormant enforcement proceedings pending against blocked bank accounts
Draft new insolvency law for the UAE - is a big clean-up of delinquent debtors on the way?
It has been widely reported that the new insolvency law in the UAE is substantially progressed, with the UAE Federal Cabinet expected to review it in the early part of this year.