VIK LEGAL has successfully represented a foreign exporter in a debt recovery dispute concerning wholesale shipments of fresh limes. By employing a comprehensive evidentiary analysis, our team established the validity of the plaintiff’s claims despite the lack of a single, formally executed foreign trade contract. Our position was built on the principle that the contractual relationship was clearly evidenced by a suite of commercial documents – including invoices and bills of lading – and further confirmed by the buyer’s unconditional acceptance of the goods.
During the litigation, the defendant attempted to simulate partial payment by presenting records of two transactions. Our legal team successfully demonstrated that these claims were based on a deliberate distortion of facts. We established that the first payment pertained to a separate, unrelated shipment, while the second was directed to a third party based on a forged agreement. We exposed this fabrication through a combination of direct and circumstantial evidence, proving that no such arrangement had ever been authorized by the exporter.
Furthermore, we successfully countered the defendant’s attempts to dispute the pricing of the goods. The opponent sought to justify the non-payment by citing undervalued figures in its own customs declarations and banking control records. We provided the court with reasoned arguments that such regulatory filings, often used for administrative purposes, cannot override the parties' actual commercial agreements regarding the real price. It was proven that the prices recorded in the invoices were final and had been accepted by the buyer upon delivery.
We also neutralized allegations regarding the supposedly substandard quality of the products. Our team demonstrated that the buyer failed to adhere to mandatory inspection protocols, and that its conduct after acceptance – specifically its requests for debt restructuring – served as a de facto admission that the goods were free of defects.
The Arbitrazh Court of the City of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Region fully upheld our client’s position, awarding the principal debt and legal costs in full. This judgment was subsequently affirmed by the appellate court, finalizing the victory in this complex cross-border dispute.
10.03.2026