Sergei Bakeshin assessed for DP the impact on bankruptcy practice of the amendments to the bankruptcy law proposed by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

On the 12th of March, the State Parliament passed in the first reading a bill introduced by the Supreme Court amending the law of bankruptcy. Sergei Bakeshin, Counsel, Head of Dispute Resolution and Insolvency Practice at Maxima Legal, assessed the impact of these amendments on the insolvency practice development specially for Delovoy Petersburg newspaper.

“The amendments allow for the restoration of the term for filing claims after the closure of the debtor’s creditor register if there are valid reasons. However, it is still unclear what reasons will be considered as such,” said the expert. – At present, the distribution of votes at the meeting of creditors is fixed after the closure of the register. The new rules violate this certainty”.

Also, according to Sergei, the amendments provide that in the absence of objections creditors’ claims will be considered by the court without holding meetings. But such a court ruling can be appealed. And if the unreasonableness of the claim became known after its inclusion in the register, it will be possible to file an application for its exclusion.

“It is not clear how these norms will be applied. For example, whether the appeal will consider arguments and evidence not submitted to the court of first instance. If their application becomes widespread, the composition of creditors and the ratio of votes at the meeting may change significantly, which could lead to a revision of the decisions taken by the meeting, including on the choice of a trustee in insolvency,” explained Sergei Bakeshin.

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