Challenging a debtor’s transactions: grounds and preparation

In insolvency, challenges may concern both contracts and individual acts of performance, including payments. Special grounds include inadequate consideration, harm to creditors and preference for one creditor. The legally relevant facts differ between grounds. Subsequent insolvency alone does not establish that every earlier transaction was invalid.

Source: Russian Supreme Commercial Court Plenum Resolution No. 63 on transaction challenges, updated text.

Read the relief sought in the application: the dispute may concern a property sale, set-off, security or a specific payment. List each transaction separately with its date, amount, parties, basis and actual performance. Do not combine transfers into one calculation if the applicant relies on different circumstances for each challenge.

List the facts alleged by the other side separately: pricing, unusual terms, connections between parties, lack of counter-performance or knowledge of financial difficulties. Match each allegation with the available response and supporting document. This keeps the analysis focused on the claim rather than a general account of good faith.

Collect the contract and appendices, acceptance and delivery records, payment documents, correspondence and negotiation materials. Pricing evidence may include third-party offers, calculations and information on the asset’s condition and restrictions. Compare like with like: instalment terms, completeness and repairs may explain differences between seemingly similar offers.

If the dispute concerns work or services, provide the deliverables and evidence of their use, rather than only a signed acceptance record. For debt repayment, reconstruct the obligation’s history and earlier payment arrangements. Preserve the counterparty checks available at the transaction date and identify their sources.

With your lawyer, examine the grounds, applicable periods and the evidence each party must provide. Identify issues requiring expert analysis or additional records. Also consider the practical consequences of a decision: where the property is, how payments are evidenced and which related claims may arise. This supports a coherent position on the transaction.