The performance from year to year

Objective

A Russian auto group asked us for assistance. Its unappealing financial state was aggravated by the prospect of a significant increase in past-due debt. A major bank submitted the claim for collecting the loans totaling over 9.5 billion Rubles. Negotiations on debt restructuring were unsuccessful. The bank intended to establish debt of the auto group within judicial proceeding and to initiate bankruptcy procedure. The receipt by the bank of court orders on the debt collection was a matter of time. To survive, the manufacturer had to postpone debt re-payments, but the bank was unwilling to offer such option. Our task involved stretching out the litigation time for the review of six bank claims. 

Resolution

The procedures for provision of bank loans are usually so meticulously documented, that finding a solution to the challenge seemed almost impossible. Core emphasis we placed not on a fight against a legal position of the bank, but on legal pettifogging, since it was the only thing that could save the client from a quick loss. We scrupulously looked for the smallest flaws in each document, each procedural step of the bank. We tried to use all our findings as much as possible, in fact "making mountains out of molehills". Consequently, we were able to stretch court hearings of cases in the first and appeal instances by two years! When after the hardest judicial war the bank nevertheless managed to receive court orders, we appealed to the court with an application for a postponing in repayments and structuring of a payment plan over a several year period and received both. 

Result

When we took the project on, we were potentially looking into initiating bankruptcy proceedings 4-5 months down the line. Instead, we concluded the project two years later and the car manufacturer was able to continue its operations. Thanks to our efforts, the auto group was able to receive the much-needed breathing room, which allowed the company to improve its business standing.