FCA of the Moscow District: a creditor may strike off the register the claims by another creditor, which were put on the register earlier

On September 24 of 2012, the Federal Court of Arbitration of the Moscow District revoked the rulings of the first and second instance courts made on the case of bankruptcy of MegaStroy LLC (part of Renova GC). RTK-Development LLC, a bankruptcy creditor, filed for cassation.

The key issue was whether a bankruptcy creditor was entitled to resort to the court, which considered the debtor’s bankruptcy case, with the request to strike the claims illegally laid by another creditor earlier off the register.

The Court of Arbitration of the Moscow Region and the Tenth Arbitration Court of Appeal chose to construe the norms of bankruptcy legislation in the most stringent way and took the following position: such requests should be dismissed. Such approach unreasonably strips the bankruptcy creditors of the opportunity to resort to courts in order to gain protection from unfounded demands, which were put on the register earlier.

The cassation instance agreed with the claimant and pointed out that the first instance had based its conclusion “on an erroneous, excessively stringent construction of the provisions of Article 16 of the Federal Law “On insolvency (bankruptcy)””. FCA of the Moscow District believes that the provisions of Articles 16 and 60 of the Federal Law “On insolvency (bankruptcy)””, if construed jointly, “do not prevent neither the trustee in bankruptcy not the other interested persons, which may include the debtor’s other creditors, from filing such request”.

The case was remitted for reconsideration.

Vasiliy Raudin and Dmitry Zhubrin, Lawyers of the Law Firm "YUST", represented the interests of RTK-Development LLC.

See here more details on the case No. A41-1810/11.