Sergei Bakeshin has commented to RBC on the insolvency of the management company of the Spar and Narodnaya 7ya Semya chains 

The total value of claims against the liquidated Intertorg Trading House, which managed the Spar and Narodnaya 7ya Semya chains in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, has reached almost 15 billion roubles. The largest lender to the retailer, Sberbank, filed several claims for a total amount of 8.1 billion roubles, as well as claims for interim measures.

Head of Dispute Resolution and Insolvency Practice at Maxima Legal, Sergei Bakeshin, explained to RBC that Sberbank’s actions are aimed at creating the possibility of at least partially satisfying its claims.

“It is difficult to imagine how Intertorg Trading House, which has no significant real estate and has practically no working business, will be able to pay 8 billion roubles”, commented Sergei. He noted that the bank considers debt restructuring possible, as long as it has not filed for the insolvency of Intertorg Trading House and has not published reports of such an intention.

Earlier, RBC Petersburg reported that at the end of December 2019, the Intertorg Trading House initiated its own insolvency in order to protect it from creditors. But on 15 January the Federal Tax Service refused to include on the Unified State Register of Legal Entities a record that the insolvency procedure had begun on its website. “A mistake might have been made in the submitted documents, or the registering body decided that the debtor cannot use the voluntary liquidation mechanism because an insolvency petition has been filed”, suggested Sergei, adding that the tax decision reduces the likelihood of applying a simplified insolvency procedure for the debtor, but this cannot be excluded.

To read the full article (in Russian) please see the website of RBC Petersburg >>>