The creditor remains without voting rights

Viktor Kharitonin’s Pharmstandard and companies associated with it are trying to get involved in the bankruptcy process of one of the large pharmaceutical distributors, Profitmed, demanding 2.6 billion rubles from it. Other large creditors are against it, suspecting Pharmstandard structures of being affiliated with the drug supplier. If the court agrees with these arguments, then Mr. Kharitonin’s companies will not be able to choose an arbitration manager and will not have the right to vote at meetings of creditors.

A number of banks, including SMP Bank, Zenit Bank, Ingosstrakh Bank, VEB.RF, which financed the pharmaceutical distributor Profitmed, which is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, filed an objection to the inclusion of Pharmstandard and its structures in the register of creditors’ claims. Kommersant found this information in the materials of the arbitration court. Interim manager Andrei Sheludko also spoke out against it. The court materials say that the distributor owed Pharmstandard and two structures of its owner Viktor Kharitonin – Pharmstandard-UfaVita and Aresbank – almost 2.6 billion rubles.

Lenders ask to check Pharmstandard and related structures and Profitmed for affiliation. Andrey Sheludko confirmed that major creditors expressed “reasonable doubts.” He added that participants will present additional materials to prove their positions at meetings on this issue.

VEB.RF told Kommersant that they will use “all available legal tools to recover the debt.” Ingosstrakh Bank declined to comment. Other credit institutions and Pharmstandard did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

Viktor Kharitonin was among the co-founders of Profitmed. Together with Alexey and Olga Svirin, he founded FC Profit House, which in 2002 owned 24.2% in Profitmed. Among the founders of Profitmed were also its CEO Dmitry Svirin and Chairman of the Board of Directors Evgeniy Strigas. There is no current information about the owners of the pharmaceutical distributor.

Profitmed’s problems began a year ago, when suppliers began suing the company en masse. At the beginning of 2023, Dmitry Svirin’s property was arrested. In May, the company introduced surveillance. At the end of 2022, Profitmed took 10th place in the ranking of large pharmaceutical distributors of the DSM Group with revenue of 56.8 billion rubles.

So far, Profitmed’s largest creditor is Sberbank, which demands 2.1 billion rubles from the distributor. They declined to comment. If Pharmstandard’s structures are included in the register, then they will be able to claim the status of the largest creditor and, accordingly, have a majority of votes at meetings.

A Kommersant source in the pharmaceutical market says that now Viktor Kharitonin’s structures are not among the co-owners of Profitmed. But it is possible to prove the affiliation of companies, even if they are not legally connected, says Denis Krauyalis, junior partner of the Yakovlev and Partners legal group. But in practice this is usually difficult to do, notes Valeria Tikhonova, senior lawyer for bankruptcy projects at Vegas Lex.

She adds that, judging by court decisions, independent creditors are asking for a lower priority in satisfying the claims of affiliates arising as a result of the provision of compensatory financing to Profitmed. Such a subordinated creditor, according to Ms. Tikhonova, on the one hand, has a full set of procedural rights as a participant in the bankruptcy case, on the other hand, it will not be able to claim the distribution of the bankruptcy estate on an equal basis with independent creditors, will not participate in the selection of the arbitration manager or have the right to vote on meetings of creditors.

Polina Gritsenko