Overturning a court decision concerning the recovery of over RUB 14 million under a lawsuit initiated by a consumer.

Lawyers of the St Petersburg Corporate Practice succeeded in having the decision of the first instance court set aside by which the client had to pay over RUB 14 million under a lawsuit initiated by a consumer. A Russian citizen, who had been working with Pepeliaev Group’s client for many years, had debt in respect of supplied Korean goods within the framework of an agreement for the exclusive distribution of Korean goods in several countries. This individual filed a lawsuit with the Russian court to recover funds from the company, as well as default interest and a fine in accordance with article 13(6) of the Law on Protecting Consumer Rights, for our client's alleged failure to voluntarily satisfy the consumer's claims. Our client lost the dispute in the first instance court, following which Pepeliaev Groups was engaged to defend this client’s interest. Our lawyers succeeded in having the case reconsidered in the first instance court in accordance with the procedural rules; as a result, we gained the opportunity to provide the court with new evidence proving that the lawsuit was unjustified and to carry out a technical expert review of the forged agreement. Based on the results of the court proceedings the unjustified lawsuit was dismissed in full.