A Case Involving an Expert from Pepeliaev Group Has Been Recognised as the Best in the “Strategy and Tactics of Litigation” Category of The CASE by Legal Insight

At the beginning of February, the results were announced of the annual The CASE study by Legal Insight, Cases That Changed the Legal Landscape. Since 2021, this professional initiative has brought together members of the legal community to nominate the most significant court cases of the year.

First place in the “Strategy and Tactics of Litigation” category was awarded to the team of lawyers representing Nizhnekamskneftekhim (SIBUR) in its dispute with NPF TONAR.

The team working on the matter included Yegor Chuklov and Pyotr Plitko, lawyers at the SIBUR-RT Litigation Centre, as well as Aidar Sultanov, Head of Pepeliaev Group’s Representative Office in the Republic of Tatarstan. An Honoured Lawyer of the Republic of Tatarstan, he represented the company in the dispute.

The experts behind the study gave particular recognition to the unconventional defence strategy employed in the case. Nizhnekamskneftekhim filed a preventive declaratory claim requesting the court to determine the market value of the losses it had incurred (namely, the value of property that had been lost) in order to compensate those losses voluntarily and rule out liability for breaching the deadline for returning the leased asset.

Although the concept of preventive judicial protection is well established as a matter of legal theory, in practice courts have traditionally refused to hear such claims, suggesting that parties seek protection only after their rights have already been infringed. Moreover, from the standpoint of legal doctrine, the case proved unique: Russian legal practice had not previously seen examples of a debtor independently applying to a court requesting that the amount be determined of losses that it had caused itself.

Declaratory claims as a form of legal protection have long existed in Russian law, but they are used relatively rarely. This is because courts have historically regarded them with disapproval.

By successfully handling this preventive declaratory claim and having the market value of the losses determined, we made a significant contribution to developing tools of procedural defence. This demonstrated the opportunity to make use of judicial mechanisms to minimise risks and prevent legal uncertainty.