On 27/11/2023, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation concluded one of the most noticeable cases of recent years – the Promsvyazbank (PSB) case, also known as the “case of the Ananyev Brothers” or the “PSB managers’ case”. The dispute has been under consideration for almost 5 years — since December 2018.
Having considered the cassation memoranda of the parties and the materials of the case for the recovery of damages from former beneficiaries and top-managers of PSB, the Supreme Court has fully upheld the judgments of the lower instances and refused to submit the cassation complaints to the review of the Judicial Board of the Supreme Court. The higher court, therefore, has finally put an end to a long dispute and the matter of liability of the L&P client for alleged losses in excess of 243 billion rubles may be finally and definitively closed.
One of the main issues in the course of the hearing of the case was the dispute over the possibility of retroactive application of the provision of clause 2 of paragraph 5 of art. 189.23 of the Bankruptcy Law, i.e. the rule providing for the possibility of recovery by the Bank of Russia of expenses, incurred in course of financial sanitation of banks. The Supreme Court had clearly ruled out the applicability of this provision of material law, as it had entered into force on 08/06/2018, that is, after the defendants have allegedly committed wrongful acts they were accused of. In addition, the Supreme Court agreed with the finding of the district court and ruled that the amounts calculated in accordance with clause 2 of paragraph 5 of art. 189.23 of the Bankruptcy Law and claimed by PSB from the defendants constitute income, not losses of the bank.
