In In re Pirogova, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York affirmed the bankruptcy court’s order denying recognition of a certain Russian insolvency proceeding as either a foreign main proceeding or foreign nonmain proceeding under 11 U.S.C. § 1517. In denying recognition of a foreign main proceeding, the bankruptcy court held the center of main interests (“COMI”) was not Russia as the debtor fled Russia long before the Russian insolvency proceeding, not to manipulate her COMI, but likely to avoid her mounting legal troubles and arrest warrant. For a foreign nonmain proceeding, the district court also held the bankruptcy court’s findings and conclusions were not clearly erroneous, in holding an apartment abandoned and encumbered by utility bills failed to show Russia was the establishment of the debtor (as a place of operations where the debtor carries out a nontransitory economic activity).
