MOSCOW, April 25 (RAPSI) – The High Court of Justice of England and Wales has turned to the Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region regarding the former head of JFC Group, Vladimir Kekhman, the court’s documents read.

No details regarding the case are available yet. Kekhman’s former financial manager Mikhail Bologov is listed as a third party in this dispute, along with Sberbank, Promsvyazbank, Raiffeisenbank, Rosbank, UniCreditbank, “Aquamarin” company and “Pulkovsky trading company”.

In September 2015, JFC Group was declared bankrupt by a Russian court. Kekhman has appealed the ruling but his complaint was dismissed.  In October 2015, Sberbank filed with the Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region a bankruptcy claim against Kekhman.

Kekhman has filed an appeal with the Thirteenth Commercial Court of Appeals against a court ruling to introduce a procedure of debt restructuring against him on the claim of Sberbank. The Commercial Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region included a claim by the bank for more than 4.3 billion rubles ($57 million) on the creditors’ list.

Kekhman’s representative claimed that former head of JFC has no obligations before Sberbank because he has already been declared bankrupt by The High Court of Justice of England in 2012 and Sberbank received its share from sales of Kekhman’s property. Sberbank’s representative, on the other hand, claimed that the bank was not involved in the process and did not receive any compensation. According to Sberbank’s representative the bank has rulings of several Russian courts on debt recovery from Kekhman.

Representative of Kekhman said that the ruling of The High Court of Justice of England was recognized by Sberbank and is to be complied with in Russia.

Bankruptcy hearing has been scheduled for May 19.

London's High Court declared Kekhman bankrupt in October 2012.

JFC Group filed for bankruptcy in March 2012 and consequently entered a period of supervision. By that time its debt claims amounted to a total of 18 billion rubles ($271 million). A court has included on the creditors’ list of JFC a 3.2-billion ruble ($48 million) debt to Promsvyazbank and Uralsib, debt to Bank of Moscow and bank “St. Petersburg” totaling 5.8 billion rubles ($87 million) and a 4.5- billion ruble ($68 million) debt to Sberbank.

Kekhman is currently leading Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater and is holding a position of the St. Petersburg’s Mikhailovsky Theatre's artistic director.

Established in St. Petersburg in 1997, JFC Group comprises fruit production, procurement, storage, distribution, and sales companies. Its ultimate holding company is JFC (BVI) Limited, which operates through companies in Russia, the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Luxembourg and Panama. JFC Group filed for bankruptcy in March 2012 and consequently entered a period of supervision. By that time its debt claims amounted to a total of 18 billion rubles ($237 million).