Monday, June 4

CORPORATE LAW

Andrey Prokhorov vs BP Russian Investment Limited, BP p.l.c.

West-Siberian District Federal Commercial Court

TNK-BP Holding minority shareholder Andrei Prokhorov has filed a lawsuit seeking to recover $13.56 billion in losses from BP Russian Investment Limited and BP p.l.c. The plaintiffs claim was dismissed and he filed an appeal against the judgment.

BANKRUPTCY

In Re Taganrog Automobile Plant (TagAZ)

Rostov Region Commercial Court

TagAZ filed for bankruptcy on April 6. The plant's debt burden increased to 20 billion rubles ($677.86 million) after production dropped three times in 2009. In 2010, the plant managed to agree with most of its creditors on debt restructuring except VTB bank. TagAZ owed the bank 5.8 billion rubles ($196.5 million).

Tuesday, June 5

CIVIL LAW

ZIL vs MAC

Moscow Commercial Court

Likhachev Automobile Plant (ZIL), a major Russian truck and heavy equipment manufacturer, is seeking $40 million from its former managing company. The plaintiff seeks the amount of allegedly unjust enrichment from MAC which managed the plant for eight years.

DEBT RECOVERY

Investbank vs Air Baltic Corporation (airBaltic)

Moscow Commercial Court

Kaliningrad-based Investbank has filed three lawsuits amounting to a total of 17.4 million euros against Latvian national airline Air Baltic Corporation (airBaltic) and Baltijas Aviacijas Sistemas (BAS). The bank is seeking to recover the debt resulting from loans issued.

CORPORATE LAW

Rusal vs Norilsk Nickel

Krasnoyarsk Territorial Commercial Court

Rusal Investment Management is seeking to cancel decisions made by the MMC Norilsk Nickel board of directors at a September 2011 meeting when the buyback deal was approved. As part of the buyback, MMC purchased 14.7 million ordinary shares or 7.7 percent of its charter capital. The stake was worth $4.5 billion.

Wednesday, June 6

DEFAMATION

Auchan Retail Group vs News Media

Moscow Commercial Court

The lawsuit centers upon the article about the tragedy in a Moscow family where two girls - four and seven years old - reportedly died after the entire family got poisoned with food bought at the Auchan store. The lawsuit was filed against News Media, the founder of the popular website which published the article.

COMPETITION

Ru-center vs Federal Antimonopoly Service

Moscow District Federal Commercial Court

The antimonopoly watchdog concluded in July 2011 that Ru-Center violated a domain registration law while registering domains in .rf (.рф) zone and fined it $7.8 million.

Thursday, June 7

BANKRUPTCY

In Re Eurokommerz

Moscow Commercial Court

Evrocommertz factoring company was declared bankrupt in December 2010. Its debt to creditors was estimated at 31.8 billion rubles ($966 million). According to bankruptcy administrator Mikhail Tarabrin, the company cannot pay its debt of over 30 billion rubles ($911 million) to its third-priority creditors.

DEVELOPMENT

Development company vs Finance Ministry

Moscow Commercial Court

Sredniye Torgovye Ryady (The Middle Shopping Mall) company seeks to fully recover the expenses for the renovation project on Moscow's Red Square.

The renovation project was designed in 2000. However, the building, which was subject to renovation, was granted to the federal agency in 2010. The development company considered the contract to be terminated as it was no longer able to fulfill the project. The plaintiff initially claimed 3.6 billion rubles ($114.9 million) in damages.

Friday, June 8

COMPETITION

Uniastrum Bank vs Antimopoly service

Moscow Commercial Court

The plaintiff seeks to cancel the Federal Antimonopoly Service's ruling that it conducted unfair business practices with bank deposits.

The watchdog ruled in January that Uniastrum Bank along with two credit organizations attracted clients by promising them profitable deposit conditions during the financial crisis, but later failed to fully meet its obligations. The watchdog found that Uniastrum Bank established the rule allowing clients to credit their accounts for free, but then charged them a seven percent fee for money remittance and other transactions.