MLP Management Company Mikhail Gutseriev is ready to sue the creditor Commerzbank only in the Russian Federation

Mikhail Gutseriev’s MLP Management Company, a prominent owner of warehouse real estate in Russia, is trying to force the creditor, the German Commerzbank, to resolve debt issues in Russian jurisdiction. Since the beginning of the military special operation in Ukraine, the developer has stopped servicing a $308 million loan issued as collateral for a large logo park in the Moscow region, Northern Domodedovo. The bank has already warned the company of its intention to collect the collateral. Under the loan agreement, the parties resolve disputes in the Cypriot courts. Lawyers believe that satisfying a claim in Russia does not mean its execution in Cyprus.

International Logistics Partnership LLC, the parent structure of MLP Management Company, and Cypriot Lapointec Ventures Ltd filed a claim in the Moscow Arbitration Court against the German Commerzbank AG, found “Kommersant” in the file of arbitration cases. MLP and Commerzbank did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

But as follows from the lawsuit, which Kommersant has at its disposal, the Cypriot Tercialia Enterprises Ltd (acting as a third party in the dispute) in December 2010 took out a loan from Commerzbank for $308 million (about 9.3 billion rubles at the exchange rate at the time of registration loan). The Severnoye Domodedovo logo park near Moscow with an area of ​​540 thousand square meters was given as collateral to the bank. m, shares of the balance holder of this object – JSC “Joint Venture “Eurasia M4″” and 100% of the shares of the founder of this company – Cypriot Dregon Land.

In March 2022, after the outbreak of the military conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, the borrower stopped servicing the loan, the lawsuit says. The reasons are not given there, but Asterisk lawyer Dmitry Vengersky believes that they could be “geopolitical changes and sanctions” against the Russian Federation. Obviously, the lender was not satisfied with this explanation, and the German bank, as stated in the lawsuit, in February 2024 sent the borrower a letter of intent to foreclose on the collateral if the debt was not repaid by March 15, 2024. According to the terms of the loan agreement, collection is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Cyprus. But the borrower asks the Moscow court to prohibit Commerzbank from initiating proceedings to foreclose on these assets in a foreign court.

Logopark “Northern Domodedovo” annually brings in 3.5 billion rubles. rental income, and its value reaches 35 billion rubles, estimates the director of Ricci | Warehouses” Dmitry Gerastovsky. According to him, the facility is completely filled with tenants.

MLP, trying to prohibit Commerzbank from suing in Cyprus, seeks to achieve, in the words of Dmitry Vengersky, “a fair trial in a friendly jurisdiction.” But even if the claim is satisfied in the Moscow Arbitration Court, it is extremely unlikely that this decision can be enforced in Cyprus, says Maxim Kuzmin, advisor to the cross-border disputes practice of BGP Litigation. He explains this by the fact that the local court will be guided by the agreement previously concluded by the parties on the application of the jurisdiction of Cyprus when resolving controversial issues.

NSP partner Ilya Rachkov believes that plaintiffs still have a chance to achieve recognition of the Russian court’s decision and its enforcement in Cyprus. The basis for this is the Treaty between the USSR and the Republic of Cyprus on legal assistance in civil and criminal matters, signed in 1984: its Chapter V is devoted to the recognition and execution of decisions of the USSR (and since 1991 – Russia) in Cyprus, he explains.

However, Mr. Rachkov does not rule out that the German bank, most likely, will not comply with the decision of the Russian court and will instead continue to litigate abroad, including in Cyprus. But in this case, according to Maxim Kuzmin, additional risks arise for Commerzbank in the Russian Federation – a Russian court may award a penalty in favor of the plaintiff for failure to comply with the ruling banning initiation of proceedings in a foreign court. This amount, the expert believes, may be equivalent to the size of the claims in a foreign court.

Daria Andrianova, Anna Zanina