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Ekaterina Smelkova

Counsel – Dispute Resolution, Bankruptcy
Ekaterina focuses her practice on commercial and bankruptcy disputes. She is experienced in handling complex commercial disputes, including in relation to the energy sector, sanctions and recovery of damages. She is also an expert in bankruptcy proceedings, including ones concerning individuals, as well as in contesting and defending transactions, disputes relating to asset foreclosure and having the debtor's controlling persons held subsidiarily liable.

Awards

Pravo-300
Education
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  • Degree in Law from Moscow State University
  • Master's degree in International Economic Law from Moscow State University
  • Degree in Law from the University of Regensburg (Germany)
Languages
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Russian, English, German

Ekaterina advised:

a former chairman of the board of a major bank

in over 25 separate disputes relating to bankruptcy proceedings against him, the creditors' claims totalling over RUB 350 bln

a major marketplace

in a dispute concerning an insurance payout for a building destroyed by fire, between the owner and the insurance company

an EPC contractor specialising in gas fields

in its capacity as a creditor, the total claims amounting to RUB 8 bln, in connection with bankruptcy proceedings against its counterparty in the Sakhalin-3 construction project

a major Russian IT distributor

that was an official dealer of a US software company in a case concerning recovery of compensation for unjust enrichment resulting from the US rights holder disconnecting the client's access to the software due to the sanctions

a major Russian oil company

in a dispute with the supplier of a high-cost formation (oil) water treatment plant for use on a major high-viscosity oil field, regarding cancellation of the supply agreement due to the poor quality of the plant and regarding the recovery of the goods cost and penalties

a leading Russian juice producer

in a dispute with Tetra Pak, one of the world's biggest packaging manufacturers, seeking reimbursement for costs incurred due to Tetra Pak refusing to supply certain types of packaging and spare parts for packaging equipment because of the sanctions imposed against Russia

a creditor

in cases against a company belonging to a major oil group, seeking to recover funds following challenges to set-offs in bankruptcy proceedings against the counterparty, the aim being replenishment of the bankruptcy estate by more than RUB 500 mln