The fish went against the tide of bankruptcy

The owners of the Sokra fish factory in Kamchatka, whose debt to Sberbank was bought out by a structure associated with the ex-head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev, are trying to maintain control over the asset. Now Sokra is recovering 3.44 billion rubles from the bank. losses from the suspension of funding, hoping to avoid bankruptcy. Achieving a positive result will not be easy, lawyers warn.

Sokra Fish Processing Plant LLC, in respect of which a bankruptcy case was initiated at the request of Sberbank, is demanding the recovery of 3.44 billion rubles from the bank, the company told Kommersant. Kommersant has a copy of the petition filed with the arbitration court of the Kamchatka Territory with requirements, the notification of receipt of the document is reflected in the filing cabinet. Sberbank did not provide a comment.

The Kamchatka plant “Sokra” produces fillets, canned food, preserves, caviar under the brand name “41 Regions”. Own fleet consists of nine vessels. Difficulties at the plant began after the initiation of a criminal case against the general director and owner of 51% Andrey Obedin. As Kommersant was told in the company, in connection with this, Sberbank suspended the issuance of working loans and financing the construction of three vessels. In May, the bank applied to the court for the bankruptcy of Sokra and the recovery of 1.19 billion rubles. During the consideration of the case, it turned out that Sberbank had sold the debt to the company Vostochny Aktiv LLC, which is considered close to Alexander Tkachev, the former head of the Ministry of Agriculture and the owner of the Agrocomplex. N. I. Tkacheva. In the agricultural complex, “Kommersant” did not answer.

According to Socre, the termination of financing under the first credit line led to a halt in the construction of the vessel at the final stages of work, and the lines for the other two vessels were not opened – this disrupted three contracts with the shipyard, which made it impossible to obtain investment quotas. Lost profit from the sale of the catch under these quotas was estimated by the company at 2.97 billion rubles.

Andrei Obedin told Kommersant through his representative that the attempted bankruptcy of Sokra was “artificial” and that the purpose of the procedure was to change ownership.

According to him, even before filing for bankruptcy, Sberbank, as the owner of 5% and the creditor of Sokra, “insisted on the sale” of the enterprise to Vostochny Aktiv, and now, with a new creditor, the bank is trying to block the work of the plant. According to Socre, some of the suppliers refused to supply, the arrest of accounts made it difficult to make payments, and creditors are trying to remove the head from his post.

Socre believes that Sberbank should be the defendant in the counterclaim, since only the right to claim was assigned to Vostochny Asset. Lyudmila Khapugina, head of the department of financial and economic expertise of Averta Group, agrees that the transfer of rights of claim does not mean the transfer of the entire pool of obligations under the agreement on opening a credit line, according to which the bank undertook to provide funds on certain conditions.

Pavel Kirsanov, head of the Restructuring and Bankruptcy practice of the Regionservis Bar Association, notes that recently the debtor or his creditors are increasingly trying to shift responsibility for causing losses to banks in bankruptcy cases. In most cases, they operate within broad, but still contractual powers, so it can be difficult to achieve a positive result, he notes. Sergey Uchitel, a partner at Pen & Paper, says the court will have to figure out whether the bank actually violated the terms of the contract and without sufficient reason did not provide funding, and that this is what led to the losses.

Socre says they plan to petition to dismiss or suspend consideration of Sberbank’s application for bankruptcy of the company until the counterclaim is considered. According to Mr. Uchitel, the only way for the owners of Sokra to maintain corporate control is to pay off the debt in order to avoid bankruptcy.

Anatoly Kostyrev