In June 2024, we were twice pleased to report excellent news to our client from the Republic of Ecuador, a major banana producer that entrusted us to represent its claims against two Russian buyers. Each case involved dozens of reefer containers with goods that were left unpaid.
On June 18, the Arbitrazh Court of St. Petersburg released the procedural order approving a settlement agreement that we achieved in dispute with the first buyer, one of largest Russian supermarket chain. The buyer agreed to pay 100 % of the debt within three months; as to all other demands and claims, the parties agreed to mutually waive all of them. The case is completed, and the Russian party has proceeded to fulfill its obligations under the settlement agreement.
A day earlier, the Court in St. Petersburg rendered a decision on our client’s claim against one of the largest Russian importers of fruits and vegetables, fully satisfying the claim in terms of the principal debt and, for the most part, the interest. The case required eight court meetings. Initially, the defendant choose to challenge the existence of a contractual relationship with our client and argue that it purchased goods under a contract with another Ecuadorian company, but our litigation lawyers successfully refuted this theory, proving the unreliability of every document and argument on which it was based. Subsequently, the defendant also disputed the price of the goods and argued that the parties did not have a price agreement, but the court rejected these objections as well, because they contradicted the overwhelming evidence to the contrary collected by our litigation lawyers. The process of proof was complicated by the fact that the main body of the documents and key witnesses were in Ecuador, but VIK LEGAL successfully coped with the task.
08.07.2024