Sergei Bakeshin has commented for Novy Prospect on the bankruptcy of the oldest winery in the Leningrad Region

Insolvency proceedings have been introduced at Severnaya Venetsiya, the oldest winery in the Leningrad Region. The company became insolvent due to failure to meet the payment schedule on a RUB 351 million loan provided by Peresvet Bank. The debt also allowed the bank to  initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the guarantor and owner of the plant, Mercury company. Meanwhile, the bankrupt companies are also connected with Olga Kotovich, the former CEO and owner of Severnaya Venetsiya, as well as the current owner of Mercury.

Sergei Bakeshin, Head of Dispute Resolution and Insolvency practice at Maxima Legal, told Novy Prospect online edition that among the common ways to restructure bankruptcy debts are an amicable settlement and a buyout of creditors’ claims with the subsequent termination of the case. “Asset replacement, sale of the whole enterprise (business), rehabilitation procedures (external management and financial rehabilitation) are used less frequently,” the expert said. Sergei explained that “the land plot and buildings of the plant  located on it belong to Mercury and are pledged by Peresvet bank. If Severnaya Venetsiya does not own any other valuable property, keeping it as a business unit may be pointless”.

According to Sergei Bakeshin, if Olga Kotovich really has ceased to be the owner of the plant, such a step will not save her from subsidiary liability. “It matters who was the manager or participant at the time of the events that caused the bankruptcy, not at the time of the bankruptcy case,” the expert stressed.

In addition, Sergei drew attention to the fact that information about the results of the first meeting of Severnaya Venetsiya’s creditors was not published in The Unified Federal Register of Bankruptcy Information. According to the interim manager himself, the court applied an interim measure in the form of a ban on holding the meeting, but cancelled it 4 days later. “Since a member of another self-regulatory organisation was appointed as bankruptcy trustee rather than the previously acting interim trustee, it can be assumed that the meeting was held by the creditors themselves,” concluded Sergei Bakeshin.

To read the full article (in Russian) please visit Novy Prospect website >>>