MOSCOW, August 4 (RAPSI) – The Thirteenth Commercial Court of Appeals has upheld the ruling rejecting demands of former CEO of JFC Group Vladimir Kekhman to dismiss Igor Maslov from the position of the acting CEO, the court ruling reads on Thursday.

Kekhman considers actions of Maslov, regarding the implementation of settlements with the third-rate creditors, illegal, because allegedly those violate order and the principle of proportional satisfaction of creditors' claims. He also blamed Maslov of being inactive and refusing to object claims of creditors.

According to the commercial court, Maslov did not violate any laws or rights of people involved in the case.

Kekhman filed another motion to dismiss Maslov, this motion will be reviewed on August 23.

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.

A representative of Kekhman claimed that the former head of JFC had no obligations before Sberbank because he was 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. A 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 the Sberbank’s representative, the bank had rulings of several Russian courts on debt recovery from Kekhman.

Nevertheless, Kekhman’s representative insisted that the ruling of The High Court of Justice of England had been recognized by Sberbank and was to be complied with in Russia.

In its ruling, the court pointed out that in the absence of international treaties, entered into by the Russian Federation, decisions on bankruptcies taken in foreign jurisdictions were to be recognized in Russia only on the reciprocity basis unless otherwise stipulated by federal laws. At present, the court stressed, the Russian Federation was not a party in any international treaty on bankruptcy issues.