We helped our client to win a dispute with a water service company over the recovery of a payment for discharging pollutants

The team of Pepeliaev Group’s St. Petersburg office represented a major food company in a dispute with a regional water service company. The latter sought judicial recourse over the recovery of a payment for discharging pollutants where the allowable concentration is exceeded and over the payment for the detrimental effect on the centralised water-discharge system. The claims of the water service company totalled over RUB 30 billion.

After losing in the first instance court, the Client turned to us. The court of appeal agreed with the lawyers’ arguments that the water service company had sampled the subscriber’s waste water in significant violation of the requirements for the sampling procedure; the judgment also stood in the cassation instance. As a result, the claimant (the water service company) had its claims rejected in full.

In this case, it is important that not only was our Client able to safeguard significant monetary funds but also that a precedent judgement was delivered which will be relevant when similar disputes are considered between the company and the water service company in relation to payment for other periods. The case also helps to form judicial practice that will, in addition, be important for other subscribing companies that face violations of sampling on the part of entities engaged in water discharge.

Our client was represented by Elena Krestyantseva, Head of the Land Law, Real Estate and Construction Practice, and Aleksandra Grischenkova, a Senior Associate in the Practice.