Cancellation of the moratorium on the bankruptcy

LEGAL DIGEST, NEWS \ 06.10.2022

The Government of the Russian Federation has decided not to extend the bankruptcy moratorium. Starting from October 2, 2022, recovering debts from insolvent companies is carried out in the same procedure.

Please be reminded that on April 1, 2022, the Government of the Russian Federation, in its Resolution, imposed a bankruptcy moratorium on applications submitted by creditors (banks, Federal Tax Service authorities, contractors, microlenders, etc.), with respect to any legal entities.

The restrictions imposed deprived creditors of the right to apply to the court with applications for the insolvency of debtor companies if they had signs of insolvency. During the current moratorium, creditors were prohibited from:

• accruing punitive sanctions for non-fulfillment by the debtor of monetary obligations and mandatory payments;
• recovering the mortgaged property of the debtor;
• carring out enforcement proceedings on pecuniary sanctions for claims against the debtor.

This measure was in effect for 6 months and became invalid on October 1 of this year. This means that now bailiffs have to initiate such cases on their own initiative. However, in order to ensure that the debtor fulfills his or her obligations, an application for the resumption of suspended enforcement proceedings should be additionally sent to the bailiffs.

Please note that the debts accumulated during the moratorium period cannot be included in the amount of debt when initiating bankruptcy within three months after the end of the measure.

It is known that the bankruptcy procedure can be carried out on the initiative of:

• a debtor organization, on behalf of which the head or one of its owners acts;
• an employee of an enterprise to whom there is a salary indebtedness;
• a supervisory authority in the presence of debt to the budget;
• creditors of the company.

15 days before the date of filing the application, the creditor is obliged to publish in the Unified Federal Register of Bankruptcy Information (UFRBI) a notice of intention to apply to the court. After that, the creditor applies to the court with a statement of claim for recognition of the debtor company as financially insolvent and attaches the necessary set of documents to it. Then, the application is registered and considered by the courts. Next, a decision is made, which depends on the results of consideration of the application: rejection of the claim, suspension of the bankruptcy case, debt restructuring or the launch of bankruptcy procedure (supervision, financial restructuring, external management, bankruptcy proceedings, settlement agreement).

When making transactions with contractors, it is necessary to be sure of their good faith and the absence of debts. In the matters of verification of contractors and interaction with them, please contact Acsour’s legal department.