Sergei Bakeshin has commented to Delovoy Peterburg on the introduction of the monitoring procedure for one of theatres in St Petersburg

The Commercial Court of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region has introduced an observation procedure in relation to the Za Chernaya Rechka theatre. At the end of April, the theatre itself applied for insolvency due to more than RUB 4 million owed to Housing and Construction Cooperative, whose premises it has occupied since 1994. The theatre is subsidised annually by the St Petersburg Committee for Culture, but this money is strictly earmarked and cannot be spent to pay off debts.

Sergei Bakeshin, Head of Dispute resolution & Insolvency practice at Maxima Legal, told Delovoy Peterburg newspaper that the theatre’s management was obliged to file for insolvency if it could not pay off the debt.

“If a creditor files for bankruptcy on its own, it proposes a bankruptcy trustee with whom it may have some kind of arrangement. In the case of the theatre, the insolvency officer is chosen at random. He is independent of the creditor and may be more loyal to the debtor. Bankruptcy is a long and complex procedure and supervision is its first stage. A temporary trustee conducts a financial analysis of the company and puts together a register of creditors’ claims” the expert explained.

To read the full article (in Russian) please visit Delovoy Peterburg newspaper`s website >>>