Sergei Bakeshin outlined for Novy Prospect the prospects of bankruptcy of the co-owner of the Vyborzhets agroholding company

The Commercial Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region has decided to restructure the debts of Alexander Zaklepkin, co-owner of Vyborzhets Holding, the largest greenhouse vegetable producer in the North-West of Russia. The restructuring will be carried out on the basis of a bankruptcy petition filed by FIC Finance-Investment-Consulting AG. Alexander Zaklepkin owes the company about € 3 mn, which it is in the process of trying to recover in the courts of general jurisdiction.

Debt restructuring is a preliminary procedure to determine the real financial situation. Sergei Bakeshin, Counsel, Head of Dispute Resolution and Insolvency Practice at Maxima Legal, told Novy Prospect that if the next step is to declare a citizen bankrupt and introduce a procedure for the realisation of his property, the debtor’s property, including the rights of a participant (shareholder) in companies, will be disposed of by a bankruptcy manager. At the same time, shares and stakes in authorised capitals belonging to the debtor will also be put up for auction. “All this may have a negative impact on the companies’ business, including significantly hampering their access to bank financing. Transactions between the debtor and its companies (making contributions to the authorised capital, granting loans, transfer of some property, etc.) may also be challenged in a bankruptcy case,” Sergei stressed.

However, given the relatively small amount of debt, the case may not come to the sale of assets. According to Sergei Bakeshin, if the Court of cassation of general jurisdiction upholds the rejection of the creditor’s claim, it will be the easiest way out of bankruptcy for Alexander Zaklepkin.

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