Sergei Bakeshin commented to Novy Prospect on the bankruptcy of the founder and companies of the Fruktovaya Lavka Group

According to the arbitration case files, Marina Stanchits, founder of the Fruktovaya Lavka (Fruit Shop) retail chain, has been declared insolvent and a debt restructuring procedure has been initiated against her. The bankruptcy was initiated by Bank Saint-Petersburg which demanded over RUB 69 m from the businesswoman in connection with the loan to Fruktovaya Stanchits LLC. In addition, creditors of Marina Stanchits are Gazprombank (RUB 2.3 m) and Orange Bank (RUB 594 000).

According to the Unified Federal Register of Legal Entities, Bank Saint-Petersburg is also planning to file an insolvency petition against Fruktovaya Lavka LLC itself. At the same time, another company of the Fruktovaya Lavka Group – Agrotechnolodgy LLC – is already in bankruptcy proceedings. The Federal Tax Service also filed a claim against it in the amount of RUB 168 m, but immediately asked to suspend its consideration. Sergei Bakeshin, Head of Dispute Resolution and Insolvency Practice at Maxima Legal, explained to online newspaper Novy Prospect that this may be due to the fact that an on-site tax audit was carried out, but the appeal against its results has not been completed.

Taking into consideration that the total amount of creditors’ claims may significantly increase, the chances of Fruktovaya Lavka to come out of bankruptcy are getting slimmer, according to Maxima Legal’s expert. “In addition, it is much more difficult to restructure debts to tax authorities than to ordinary bankruptcy creditors,” commented Sergei.

Marina Stanchits assessed the situation as a raider seizure of business, however Sergei Bakeshin said he did not see any clear signs of this process. “For example, not a single court act in the Agrotechnologies bankruptcy case or in the Marina Stanchits bankruptcy case has been appealed,” the expert stressed.

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