By the end of 2015 Moscow authorities are planning to set for auction more than 30 land plots for construction purposes, including those located in industrial zones and future transport hubs. Investors are currently interested in leasing land plots for construction purposes. Commenting on the statistics for 2015, Gennady Dyogtev, head of competition policy department, says that so far 18 land plots with the total area of 11.7 ha have been leased out for RUB 605 million. 

‘Moscow is interested in developing industrial production, including industrial zones. Thus, a bid campaign for the right to lease 10 large land plots for construction of plants is one of the on-going projects. All of these land plots are located in the territory of operating industrial zones within Moscow. It is planned that approximately 20 land plots, which may interest industrial companies, will be set for auction additionally’, said Gennady Dyogtev, head of competition policy department.

He further noted that it is rather difficult to find purchasers for the lease of land plots for industrial plant construction. In order to make the said land plots as attractive as possible, Moscow authorities determine the most suitable functional use and permissible technical and economic feature of every object.

Additionally, land plots located within transport hubs will also be set out for auction for the purposes of construction of office centres, hotels, residential buildings and shopping malls.

Investors are currently interested in leasing land plots for construction purposes. Thus, Dyogtev specified that in 2015, 90% of the land plots set out for auction have already been leased out, as opposed to only 48% last year. In 2015, 18 land plots with the total area of 11.7 ha were leased out as a result of public auction for RUB 605 million. The average increase of the reserve price was 53.2% as opposed to only 39.9% in 2014. The objects were leased for the construction of 10 health and fitness centres, 2 production and warehouse companies, residential buildings, hotels etc.

In 2015, banks were forced to initiate insolvency proceedings of their commercial debtors 30% more often than last year. Lawyers and analysts say the statistics can be explained by the deterioration of the economic situation. Creditors consider the initiation of insolvency proceedings to be the only way to influence their debtors, and to recover the debt at least partially. Banks also commence insolvency proceedings in order to inflict pressure on their debtors. 

According to the official statistical data published by Russian courts, 37.800 insolvency proceedings were brought in 2014, whereas the relevant figure for 2015 (as of 11 November) has surpassed 49.200.

Lawyers and analysts say the statistics can be explained by the deterioration of the economic situation. According RusRating, a Russian ranking agency, increment rates of the corporate loan portfolio have dropped: they amounted to 14.7% (RUB 25.8 trillion) for the first nine months of 2014, whereas the relevant figure for the first nine months of 2015 is 7.5% (RUB 31.7 trillion). Statistics also show in increase in the percentage of payment delays: 4.3% (RUB 1.1 trillion) in the first nine months of 2014, as opposed to 5.8% (RUB 1.8 trillion) in the first nine months of 2015.

Creditors consider the initiation of insolvency proceedings to be the only way to influence the situation, and to recover the debt at least partially. Nevertheless, banks also commence insolvency proceedings in order to inflict pressure on their debtors.

Notorious bankruptcy cases in 2015 involve insolvency proceedings of OJSC Transaero Airlines, initiated by Sberbank, Alfa-Bank and VTB; proceedings against major construction company SU-155 brought by Globex bank, VTB and Sberbank. Furthermore, Alfa-Bank is planning to initiate proceedings against Stroygasconsulting.

The Russian Ministry of Construction has issued an Order No.630/pr, which amends its previous Order No.137/pr “On determining the term required for performance of engineering survey, architectural design and construction of buildings”. The new Order changes the rules determining the term within which all engineering surveys, architectural design and construction works have to be performed, if a company acquires a lease of a land plot owned by state or municipal authorities as a result of a public auction. The Order provides that the said term shall vary depending on complexity of construction, and will come into force on November 17, 2015.

Under the previous Order, if a company acquired a lease of a land plot owned by state or municipal authorities as a result of a public auction, it had to perform all engineering surveys, architectural design and construction works within a standard 60-month term applicable to all types of capital facilities. Therefore, under Article 39.8(9) of the Russian Land Code, the said works had to be performed within 10 years.

The new Order provides that for building complexes, the said term shall vary depending on the area of the capital facility, but shall not exceed 54 months. If the area of the facility exceeds 30.000 square metres, the said term shall amount to 42 months. Notably, the Order does not apply to unique capital facilities.

The Order will come into force on November 17, 2015.

In 2014, Russian lawmakers significantly reformed a number of corporate law institutions, in order to enhance business procedures. A new provision establishing an opportunity for several directors to act on behalf of a legal entity, acting  jointly or independently of each other, was among the radical amendments made to Part I of the Russian Civil Code. Experts of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce have recorded a dramatic growth in the appointment of two or more general directors in Russian limited liability companies, aimed at introducing additional control over the activities of subsidiaries, and bringing the company’s corporate structure into conformity with the European standards of parent companies.

In 2014, Russian lawmakers significantly reformed a number of corporate law institutions, in order to enhance business procedures. A new provision establishing an opportunity for several directors to act on behalf of a legal entity, acting jointly or independently of each other, was among the radical amendments made to Part I of the Russian Civil Code.

This provision means that several general directors can perform the functions of the company’s sole executive body simultaneously. The well-known ‘four-eyes principle’, which requires that a certain activity, i.e. a decision, transaction, etc., must be approved by at least two people, is now recognised in Russia.

Although the law entered into force back in September 01, 2014, companies have started availing of the opportunity only recently. Experts of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce have recorded a dramatic growth in the appointment of two or more general directors in Russian limited liability companies, aimed at introducing additional control over the activities of subsidiaries, and bringing the corporate structure into conformity with the European standards of parent companies.

Whether the appointment of two or more general directors is suitable for a particular company should be decided on a case-by-case basis. It will require a number of legal changes, such as amending the company’s charter, so as to set forth the possibility of appointing several general directors, and specify the distribution of powers, limitation of powers as regards certain transactions, and procedures for co-operation. Moreover, the new version of the charter will have to be registered; registration can be carried out alongside with the registration of the new director appointment. Furthermore, the inner documentation of the company should be amended so as to consider the new structure of management.

Several copyright holders filed a lawsuit against Rutracker after it had put up torrents of more than 20 thousand of their musical and other works. After the parties failed to reach an out-of-court settlement, the Moscow court ruled that the website shall be closed for good. Rutracker is one of the world’s largest BitTorrent trackers where users can exchange various files. According to the website administration, it contains more that 1 million 600 thousand active torrent files. Statistics show that more than 13 million users visit rutracker.org every month.

Several copyright holders filed a lawsuit against Rutracker after it had put up torrents of more than 20 thousand of their musical and other works.

The parties tried to reach an out-of-court settlement. Thus, the copyright holders demanded that Rutracker install a software that would alert its users that they were going to download an illegally distributed work. However installation of such software would require changing the whole operation scheme of Rutracker, therefore the parties failed to come to an understanding. Taking this into account, the Moscow court ruled that the website shall be closed for good.

The possibility to limit access to websites is provided in the so-called ‘Anti-piracy law’. Initially access could be limited only if copyrights in a movie had been infringed. However, since May 2015, access can be likewise limited if other copyrights and related rights are infringed. A ‘lifetime’ shutdown of websites is permitted under the law, provided that works, or information granting access to them, had been repeatedly published on the websites illegally.

Rutracker is one of the world’s largest BitTorrent trackers where users can exchange various files. According to the website administration, it contains more that 1 million 600 thousand active torrent files. Statistics show that more than 13 million users visit rutracker.org every month.