Publications

Our Client is a large Kazakhstani mining and metallurgical company, one of the largest producers of chrome raw materials and ferroalloys in the world.

The Client ordered a Russian contractor company, established jointly by a Russian and a South African company, to carry out works in the smelting shop. According to the contract, the Client transferred an advance payment to the contractor, but due to COVID-19 restrictions the works were not performed and the advance payment was not returned.

As a result of PB Legal team's actions, the Arbitrazh Court of the Moscow region awarded the advance payment in favour of the Client. However, the controlling persons of the contractor company withdrew most of the assets in their favour, therefore the Court decision was unenforceable. In order to recover the advance payment, PB Legal team initiated bankruptcy of the Russian contractor, in the course of which the insolvency administrator challenged the transactions on withdrawal of assets in favour of an affiliate, recovered unjust enrichment, and filed an application for bringing the controlling persons to subsidiary liability.

Thereafter, the controlling persons of the Russian contractor proposed to the Client to enter into a settlement agreement under which they would voluntarily repay the debt. The settlement agreement was approved by the court and the opponents have already transferred part of the funds under it.

Additionally, a company from South Africa, one of the Russian contractor's shareholders, was a subcontractor under the contract with the Client. Due to the fact that the Russian contractor transferred to this company an advance payment, the insolvency administrator filed a claim for recovery of the advance payment and losses. Under the terms of the settlement agreement the right of claim against the company from South Africa was transferred to our Client, and PB Legal team filed an application for procedural succession on Client’s behalf.

The project was led by Alan Bayramkulov and Pavel Chistyakov.

Our Client is a large Russian dairy manufacturer known for producing cheese, cottage cheese and butter.

The client asked us to represent its interests in the courts of the Russian Federation in disputes with a foreign supplier and a guarantor bank. The supplier violated its obligations under the contracts for the supply of industrial equipment, citing the EU sanctions against Russia. The same motivation was used by the guarantor bank to refuse to pay the Client the sum of the guarantees securing the supplier's obligations.

PB Legal team prepared a strategy to protect the Client's interests and filed lawsuits against the supplier and the guarantor bank. At our request, the court took interim measures against the assets of the guarantor bank. In June 2024, the Arbitrazh Court of Moscow ruled in favour of our Client to recover the sum of the guarantees of EUR 4,820,000 and the interest of EUR 170,000 from the guarantor bank.

The project was led by our lawyers: Konstantin Galin, Igor Startcev, Yulia Isakova, Ilya Belyaev.

Moscow City Arbitrazh Court enforced the decision of the ICAC at the RF CCI (MKAS) for the benefit of our Client.

Our Client is the largest agricultural enterprise in the Tver region. PB Legal team has successfully helped our Client to recover from an unconscientious counterparty the amount of unearned advance payment under the contract, penalties and costs of arbitral proceedings in the ICAC at the RF CCI. To date, we have successfully completed the case and enforced the ICAC award.

The complexity of the dispute was precisely at the exequatur stage: PB Legal team managed to elaborate a strategy that allowed us to fully satisfy our Сlient's claims. The Moscow City Arbitrazh Court ordered to issue a writ of execution and recovered from the opponents the full amount of the penalty without reducing it.

Alan Bayramkulov, Konstantin Galin, Igor Startsev and Yulia Isakova worked on the project.

At the claim of a foreign company from an "unfriendly" jurisdiction, the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property cancelled the trademark of our Client because it contradicted another trademark with an earlier priority. The foreign company also filed complaints for recovery of damages from the companies that had used the Сlient's cancelled trademark.

Our Сlient is Denis Simachev, a famous Russian fashion designer, artist and restaurateur. PB Legal team elaborated a strategy to protect his brand rights. As part of the implementation of this strategy, we filed an opposition with the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property regarding the granting of legal protection to the trademark of a foreign company.

Alan Bayramkulov prepared an expert legal opinion on Russian intellectual property law issues, which supported the necessity of cancellation of a foreign company's trademark. This expert opinion became the key to the dispute: on its basis, the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property cancelled the trademark of the foreign company, which allowed our Client to retain his rights to the brand.

Cancellation of the opponents' trademark will allow the Client to use his brand in creative and commercial activities.

Alan Bayramkulov and Pavel Chistyakov worked on the project.

Cypriot court recovered a substantial amount of funds that had been withdrawn from the company as a result of the illegal actions of the former beneficiaries and management for the benefit of our Client.

PB Legal team succeeded in obtaining a judgment from the Nicosia District Court (Republic of Cyprus) for the recovery of over RUB 200 million (the value of the withdrawn assets) for the benefit of our Client, a major Russian energy company.

The dispute was complicated by the necessity to notify the foreign defendants. Alan Bayramkulov (Partner of PB Legal) prepared an expert opinion on Russian law, which enabled the Cypriot court to decide on the proper notification of the foreign defendants and, as a result, to order the recovery of funds from them.

Alexander Panin and Alan Bayramkulov worked on the project.

PB Legal | Panin, Bayramkulov & Partners team obtained recognition of the Russian court judgement in Bulgaria.

On March 21, 2023, Sofia City Court of the Republic of Bulgaria issued a judgment recognizing and enforcing the decision of a Russian court to recover damages caused by a crime.

Our client is a Fund which finances the construction of housing for citizens in YNAO. The ex-director of the Fund was convicted of embezzlement, and the judgment also ordered the recovery of damages from him for damages caused to the client. PB Legal team together with Bulgarian lawyers initiated the process of recognition of the judgment against to the defendant in the Republic of Bulgaria, where the convicted person has significant assets.

During the trial, we in cooperation with local counsel succeeded in having the defendant's assets frozen. However, the opponent abused his rights to delay the case. The defendant used the gaps in the criminal procedure law. He repeatedly filed unfounded complaints against the judgement with the Russian courts. The defendant attempted to convince the Bulgarian court that the judgement was not final and could not be recognized in Bulgaria.

PB Legal lawyers prepared legal opinion in conformity with Russian law, in which they argued that the judgment is final and enforceable. As a result, the Bulgarian court did not allow the opponent to abuse the procedural rights, and ruled in favor of our client. The case is also interesting because the judgment was based on the Treaty on Legal Assistance between the USSR and Bulgaria, which is rarely applied.

The execution of the judgment will allow the Fund to recover the stolen Funds and protect the interests of the citizens who are in need of new housing.

PB Legal | Panin, Bayramkulov & Partners team achieved in arbitration court the allowance of the claim for compulsion of the joint stock company to holding a special meeting of the shareholders.

On April 28, 2022, the Arbitration Court of the Novosibirsk Region issued a ruling in case No. A45-6357/2022. The Court allowed our client's claims to compel the joint-stock company Angioline China Distribution to holding a special general meeting of shareholders.

The adopted decision has the great importance for the corporate conflict solution that has been going on for several years. The decisions to be taken at the Special General Shareholders' Meeting will stabilize corporate governance in the joint-stock company and end the internal crisis caused by the actions of the opponents. The position of the court also confirms the unconditional right of the shareholder to demand the holding of a special general meeting of shareholders, which does not depend on the presence or absence of a board of directors in the company.

Alan Bayramkulov, Irina Martvel, and Ilya Kozhinov worked on the project.

On March 10, 2022, the Seventh Arbitration Court of Appeal issued a ruling to uphold the decision of the court of first instance to exclude A.N. Kudryashov and A.A. Frantsuzov, the majority shareholders of Angioline. The PB Legal team achieved passing this ruling on March 2, 2022, as we wrote about earlier (PB Legal: Panin, Bayramkulov & Partners).

Read the full text of the judgment of the appealate court in case № A45-14985/2020 here.

The PB Legal team succeeded in the court of appeals in upholding the decision to exclude A.N. Kudryashov and A.A. Frantsuzov, majority shareholders of Angioline, holding a total block of shares in the amount of 75%.

Winning the appeal is a development of our success in the court of first instance. We told you more about the Novosibirsk Oblast Arbitration Court's decision earlier.

We are currently awaiting the publication of the ruling of the Seventh Arbitration Court of Appeal on case № A45-14985/2020 in full.

Alan Bayramkulov, Irina Martvel, Nadezhda Simakova, Sergey Kim and Ilya Kozhinov worked on the project.

The PB Legal | Panin, Bayramkulov & Partners team achieved in the court of cassation cancellation of judicial acts on the claim of an affiliate to the bankrupt.

On January 27, 2022, the Arbitration Court of the Urals District issued a ruling in case № A76-17068/2020, which overturned the acts of the courts of the first and appellate instances and sent the case for a new hearing. PB Legal's lawyers managed to prove that the lower courts had committed gross violations of procedural and substantive law, had not thoroughly analyzed the circumstances of the case and had not taken into account the arguments essential to the case.

PB Legal's client is a creditor company in the bankruptcy case of a manufacturing company. A minority shareholder of a debtor's subsidiary filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate a transaction between the debtor and its subsidiary. The court of the first instance allowed the claim in full, and, based on that. The subsidiary claimed more than RUB 700 mln in bankruptcy proceedings against the manufacturing company. The client, as a creditor of the debtor, filed an appeal against the decision of the court of the first instance, but the court of appeals upheld the decision.

PB Legal’s lawyers drew the cassation court's attention to the fact that the plaintiff was affiliated with the debtor. The claim was aimed at joining the bankruptcy case of a creditor friendly to the debtor. In addition, our attorneys were able to convince the appellate court that the plaintiff had no right to contest the transaction and that the statute of limitations had been missed on several grounds at once. As a result, the court agreed with our arguments and sent the case for reconsideration.

Alan Bairamkulov, Nikolai Stroev, Ilya Kozhinov, and Sergey Kim worked on the project.