Sergei Bakeshin has outlined for Mashnews the prospects for Baltic Shipyard to recover €7.6m from Wartsila Oyj Abp

The Thirteenth Commercial Court of Appeal recovered from Wartsila Oyj Abp in favour of Baltic Shipyard the amounts of bank guarantees in the amount of almost EUR 7.6 million for non-delivered equipment. In its ruling, the court stated that Wartsila Oyj Abp could not refuse to fulfil its obligations ‘due to the fact that the circumstances in which the restrictive measures were imposed are not irreversible and permanent’, as ‘it is possible that the restrictive measures will be cancelled.’

The court ruling outlines the scenarios under which Baltic Shipyard could potentially recover the money. In particular, if Wartsila Oyj Abp does not appeal against the judgement, it will be possible to block the company’s property in Russia. At the same time, the right to claim the receivables confirmed by the court is also an asset that Baltic Shipyard can theoretically sell. Sergei Bakeshin, Counsel, Head of Dispute Resolution & Insolvency Practice at Maxima Legal, explained to Mashnews that companies that have debts to Wartsila Oyj Abp may be interested in buying out Wartsila Oyj Abp’s receivables, as they can offset their counter obligations.

The other option offered to Baltic Shipyard is to wait for the sanctions to be lifted and then apply to the European courts with the Russian court ruling in hand. The document states that without such a ruling, it may be difficult for the Russian company to obtain payment, as the guarantee may expire by then. However, as Sergei Bakeshin pointed out, in 2019, when Baltic Shipyard was just signing contracts with Finnish companies, they stated that disputes related to guarantees were subject to the Arbitration Institute of the Finland Chamber of Commerce (FAI) not commercial courts in Russia. ‘In addition, the guarantees were subject to Finnish law, and the Thirteenth Commercial Court of Appeal applied Russian law to them. Given these circumstances, the ruling of the Thirteenth Commercial Court of Appeal , even after the sanctions are lifted, will be impossible to enforce in Finland or in any other ‘unfriendly’ country that does not recognise Russian rules on (anti)sanctions non-application of arbitration clauses,’ Sergei stressed.

The expert also added that Baltic Shipyard may try to enforce the court act in some ‘friendly’ country, but the prospects of such enforcement are extremely vague.

To read the full article (in Russian), please, see Mashnews website>>>>