The Supreme Court allowed the ex-director of a bankrupt company to appeal against the inclusion of a claim in the register.

The Supreme Court confirmed the practice according to which the debtor’s controlling persons should have the right to appeal against the acts of inclusion of creditors’ claims into the register.

In the bankruptcy case of OOO Status, Vladimir Semin was included on the list of creditors with his claim for 1.013 million rubles. The company’s debt arose after the loan was not repaid. Sergei Dolgikh was the company director at that time.

The court let the creditor on the register, but Dolgikh did not agree and contested the decision in the 9th Arbitration Court. The ex-director of the company, brought to subsidiary responsibility, insisted: the ASGM ignored its own definition from 2019, which refused to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Semin. At that time, the first instance noted that the loan agreement was a sham transaction. But the appellate court did not check the arguments of Dolgikh’s complaint. The judges noted that the director has no right to participate in separate disputes in the bankruptcy case, but only as regards his subsidiary liability (case No. A40-269141/2019). The district court agreed.

The economics board of the Supreme Court corrected the error of the lower courts. The result of a separate dispute to establish Semin’s claims may directly affect the amount of liability of the former head of “Status”. The controlling person cannot be deprived of the opportunity to challenge such court decisions, because he has no other way to protect himself. The appellate court wrongfully denied Dolgikh access to justice, the Supreme Court indicated, so the dispute was returned to the 9th AAS. It will have to assess the arguments of the former director’s complaint.

Source: https://pravo.ru/news/241338/