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21.05.2025
12:00–13:30
The Court’s Role in Overseeing Bankruptcy Cases
Congress Centre, conference hall А (3rd floor)
Broadcast
Bankruptcy is one of the fastest-evolving areas of law, largely driven by extensive judicial practice. The high level of conflict among participants in bankruptcy proceedings generates numerous legal issues that require timely and effective resolution by the courts. Courts must find ways to settle disputes even in the absence of clear regulatory guidance. Does this mean that courts are increasingly taking on a “legislative” role in bankruptcy law, effectively shaping not only the application but also the creation of new norms, which are the most critical part of the system’s architecture? In addition, renewed discussions about major bankruptcy reform raise the question of a new distribution of influence over the procedure among various actors. What role should courts play in this system? Should they act as neutral observers in creditor-debtor relations, or, recognizing the impossibility of agreement amid conflicting interests, should they take a more active role in solving problems and ensuring fair outcomes?
Moderator
Ilya Gorbashev
Assistant to the Deputy Chairman, Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
Panellists
Andrey Bushev
Judge, Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation
Alexander Varvarin
State Secretary, Vice President for Legal Regulation and Administration, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP)
Oleg Zhirnykh
Chairman, Arbitration Court of Tyumen Region
Konstantin Chekmyshev
Deputy Head, Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation
Oleg Shilokhvost
Judge, Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
Tatyana Shishmareva
Professor of the Department of Business and Corporate Law, Kutafin Moscow State Law University
Front row participant
Julia Litovtseva
Partner, Head of Bankruptcy and Anti-Crisis Business Protection Practice, Pepeliaev Group
Broadcast
Ilya Gorbashev
Assistant to the Deputy Chairman, Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
Andrey Bushev
Judge, Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation
Alexander Varvarin
State Secretary, Vice President for Legal Regulation and Administration, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP)
Oleg Zhirnykh
Chairman, Arbitration Court of Tyumen Region
Konstantin Chekmyshev
Deputy Head, Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation
Oleg Shilokhvost
Judge, Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
Tatyana Shishmareva
Professor of the Department of Business and Corporate Law, Kutafin Moscow State Law University
Julia Litovtseva
Partner, Head of Bankruptcy and Anti-Crisis Business Protection Practice, Pepeliaev Group
What she specialises in
Yulia specialises in the anti-crisis protection of businesses. For more than 30 years she has been providing legal support to clients in bankruptcy cases or when risks associated with insolvency arise. Her PhD thesis was dedicated to bankruptcy issues. Yulia has sound experience in assessing managerial risks and providing support with regard to bankruptcy legislation when transactions are concluded and challenged and in safeguarding interests of parties to disputes over subsidiary liability.
Yulia has substantial experience in representing parties involved in cases associated with collecting bad debts, and in settling conflicts out of court, including through mediation. Her professional experience includes serving as a bankruptcy judge of the Kaluga Region State Commercial Court for over nine years, working as an attorney-at-law for a similar period and heading the Bankruptcy and Anti-Crisis Protection of Business Practice at Pepeliaev Group for over a decade.
Her main achievements
Yulia represents businesses in state commercial courts and courts of general jurisdiction of all levels, including in insolvency (bankruptcy) cases. Yulia successfully represented large international companies and major European banks to protect their assets in bankruptcy cases, including when transactions with contracting parties were challenged, thus enabling the clients to retain assets worth over RUB 20 billion in total.
Yulia is an expert in corporate law (including bankruptcy law) at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. She is also involved in the operations of the Agency for strategic initiatives on mediation and procedural legislation, and the development of an online dispute resolution system. In 2017 she joined the panel of arbitrators of the Arbitration Court of the Association of European Businesses.
Yulia has authored more than 60 academic papers. She was actively involved in drafting amendments to the Federal Law “On insolvency (bankruptcy)”, the Code of Administrative Offences (with regard to offences relating to bankruptcy) and the Russian Commercial Procedure Code.
Her major clients
USK Most, Ronin Trust, Baring Vostok Capital Partners, Alrosa, Cherkizovo Group, Kuzbank, Moldindconbank, MTT, Pernod Ricard, Procter & Gamble, Rietumu Banka, Rolf, Uhrenholt, ABB, Creditbank, Cyprus Development Bank, Dow Izolan, Isuzu, KYB Eurasia, Rigmora, Zara, Lukoil, METRO Cash & Carry, Itochu, Yandex, Oriflame, Bulgarneft.
What they say
“We are always happy to contact Yulia Litovtseva, who is not only an outstanding specialist, always ready to help and with excellent qualifications, but also is a wonderful person who is always a pleasant to deal with. I also think that her experience as a commercial court judge is certainly an advantage for us and for her other clients because she can see both sides of the same coin” (The Legal 500).
“Yulia Litovtseva, Head of Practice (Band 3), regularly represents Russian and international creditors in insolvency proceedings. Respondents emphasise that Yulia has ‘extensive experience in participating in court proceedings’ ” (Chambers Europe).
Clients praise her for being “easy to communicate with”, adding that Yulia Litovtseva is “an excellent speaker and negotiator” (Chambers Europe).
“Yulia Litovtseva is super-professional in handling bankruptcy cases” (IFLR1000).
“She is a brilliant lawyer, having huge experience in court, and she is highly skilled at thinking on her feet when she appears in court. She manages immediately to find the arguments to support her point of view” (IFLR1000).
Yulia specialises in the anti-crisis protection of businesses. For more than 30 years she has been providing legal support to clients in bankruptcy cases or when risks associated with insolvency arise. Her PhD thesis was dedicated to bankruptcy issues. Yulia has sound experience in assessing managerial risks and providing support with regard to bankruptcy legislation when transactions are concluded and challenged and in safeguarding interests of parties to disputes over subsidiary liability.
Yulia has substantial experience in representing parties involved in cases associated with collecting bad debts, and in settling conflicts out of court, including through mediation. Her professional experience includes serving as a bankruptcy judge of the Kaluga Region State Commercial Court for over nine years, working as an attorney-at-law for a similar period and heading the Bankruptcy and Anti-Crisis Protection of Business Practice at Pepeliaev Group for over a decade.
Her main achievements
Yulia represents businesses in state commercial courts and courts of general jurisdiction of all levels, including in insolvency (bankruptcy) cases. Yulia successfully represented large international companies and major European banks to protect their assets in bankruptcy cases, including when transactions with contracting parties were challenged, thus enabling the clients to retain assets worth over RUB 20 billion in total.
Yulia is an expert in corporate law (including bankruptcy law) at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. She is also involved in the operations of the Agency for strategic initiatives on mediation and procedural legislation, and the development of an online dispute resolution system. In 2017 she joined the panel of arbitrators of the Arbitration Court of the Association of European Businesses.
Yulia has authored more than 60 academic papers. She was actively involved in drafting amendments to the Federal Law “On insolvency (bankruptcy)”, the Code of Administrative Offences (with regard to offences relating to bankruptcy) and the Russian Commercial Procedure Code.
Her major clients
USK Most, Ronin Trust, Baring Vostok Capital Partners, Alrosa, Cherkizovo Group, Kuzbank, Moldindconbank, MTT, Pernod Ricard, Procter & Gamble, Rietumu Banka, Rolf, Uhrenholt, ABB, Creditbank, Cyprus Development Bank, Dow Izolan, Isuzu, KYB Eurasia, Rigmora, Zara, Lukoil, METRO Cash & Carry, Itochu, Yandex, Oriflame, Bulgarneft.
What they say
“We are always happy to contact Yulia Litovtseva, who is not only an outstanding specialist, always ready to help and with excellent qualifications, but also is a wonderful person who is always a pleasant to deal with. I also think that her experience as a commercial court judge is certainly an advantage for us and for her other clients because she can see both sides of the same coin” (The Legal 500).
“Yulia Litovtseva, Head of Practice (Band 3), regularly represents Russian and international creditors in insolvency proceedings. Respondents emphasise that Yulia has ‘extensive experience in participating in court proceedings’ ” (Chambers Europe).
Clients praise her for being “easy to communicate with”, adding that Yulia Litovtseva is “an excellent speaker and negotiator” (Chambers Europe).
“Yulia Litovtseva is super-professional in handling bankruptcy cases” (IFLR1000).
“She is a brilliant lawyer, having huge experience in court, and she is highly skilled at thinking on her feet when she appears in court. She manages immediately to find the arguments to support her point of view” (IFLR1000).