BGP Litigation lawyers overturned a first instance court decision to recover 6 billion roubles from Planeta Zdorovya

BGP Litigation's dispute resolution and bankruptcy lawyers successfully overturned a first-instance court decision to recover 6 billion roubles from Planeta Zdorovya (Planet of Health).

The bankruptcy case involving one of Russia's major pharmaceutical distributors included a dispute over invalidation of supply chain transactions for pharmaceutical products to pharmacies controlled by the Planeta Zdorovya group, a leading retail pharmacy chain.

The first instance court determined that the product supply transactions between the Planeta Zdorovya network's distributor and the debtor were fictitious and ordered that payments totalling 6 billion roubles be returned to the bankruptcy estate.

The BGP Litigation team took on the case at the appeal stage. The lawyers developed legal arguments refuting the fictitious nature of the product supply chain, intentional tort and preference in the contested payments.

After reviewing the appeal, the appellate commercial court overturned the first instance court decision and refused to recognise the transactions as invalid in their entirety.

The lawyers' arguments persuaded the appellate court to admit new evidence confirming actual pharmaceutical product deliveries, lack of affiliation between the debtor and the client, and absence of grounds for classifying the disputed transactions as preferential.

This dispute is of great importance to the client as it affects consideration of other cases and the ability to carry on business in general.

The project was handled by the BGP Litigation team, which specialises in dispute resolution and insolvency. It included Partner Dmitry Bazarov, Counsel Daria Mayorova, Senior Associate Mikhail Osipov, and Junior Associate Vladislav Ryabinin.