A new twist in the litigation between Vladimir Potanin and UC Rusal

A new twist in the litigation between Vladimir Potanin and UC Rusal.

A new twist in the legal proceedings between Vladimir Potanin and UC Rusal has led to a flurry of diverse judgments.

True, there is a significant adjustment in the case. While the previous claims date back to an earlier historical period, the current lawsuits over CFA and the Atomize platform are very recent. They may well be of interest to Russian experts both at the Central Bank and law enforcement agencies as an example of investigations into digital violations. In this sense, it is extremely sad that the precedent with Nornickel's CFA, if the court sees it as an illegal withdrawal of assets, may compromise a basically good idea.

First. Experts believe that the decision of the High Court of London, if it is made now or in the near future, will be of a conceptual and, in fact, advisory nature for the participants of the process, whatever it may be.

Today, the United Kingdom is not even just unfriendly, but outright hostile to Russia. It is there that Europe's main anti-Russian think tank is located; it was the British who did not allow the conflict in Ukraine to end back in 2022 and continue to fuel it even now. But the London court has been working for a long time. And if any decision is made at the stage of normalization of relations, it will not be easy to dismiss it.

Second. The judicial process in London is a long affair. It will take months, or even years, before any decisions are made. Especially since life does not stand still, and more and more new episodes appear in the case, as in the case of Atomize and tokens.

“Given that the plaintiff is on the way to expanding the circumstances he assesses as evidence of bad faith, unreasonable behavior of the company's management, it can be assumed that there will still be similar additions in the future,” says Vitaly Vetrov, managing partner of the law firm Vetrov and Partners.

Russia and the UK have a rich history of relations. It is true that there has always been more negativity than positivity. But there have also been periods of normalization of relations and even alliance, as in the times of the Great Patriotic War. It is clear that after the completion of the SWO the coldness from the Foggy Albion will be felt for a long time, but the geopolitical factor of apparent hostility will begin to lose its power little by little. And then the legitimacy of the decisions of the High Court of London will increase in Russia. The lawsuit is not going anywhere.

“The disagreements between the plaintiff and the defendant did not arise yesterday or even in 2022. They are decades old. And if we estimate that the previous time they managed to conclude a shareholders' agreement that was valid for 10 years, then there are chances to resort to this format of conflict resolution even now,” Vitaly Vetrov believes.

Third. Lawyers believe that the chances of an amicable agreement in London remain.

“If we perceive the current court dispute as one of the elements of the settlement of differences, which is aimed, perhaps, at the conclusion of a shareholder agreement satisfactory to all, then it is not the result of the trial that is of great importance, but the process of this trial itself. It is possible that within the framework of this agreement there will be a question of granting a party the right to buy out the other party's share at a discount to the price, or separate management bodies of the companies will be formed differently, or there will be compulsion to perform certain operations and transactions in the interests of its participants and/or third parties,” Vitaly Vetrov argues.

But the current dispute follows the tracks of such an agreement, which means that it is the fulfillment of this agreement that is in question now. And what does the agreement say? It says about penalties. So in reality this is a dispute with far-reaching consequences - Potanin's resignation is not the only one of them.

Translated from legal, we can say that the court in London is in any case useful for resolving a long-standing corporate conflict. It allows us to look at the situation from the outside, consider all the arguments and counterarguments, and work out, if not a ready-made solution, at least a roadmap for the future to resolve the situation. Although there is still a huge distance to cover before this happens.

https://www.prometall.info/ludi/actsioneri/london_sud_potanin_rusal_vagonchik_tronetsya_a_isk_ostanetsya

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