The government is ready to introduce joint liability for debts remaining after the liquidation of companies for managers, founders and members of liquidation commissions. The corresponding amendments to the laws on insolvency, joint-stock companies and limited liability companies were introduced by the chairman of the State Duma property committee Viktor Pleskachevsky back in February 2009. In August, the government generally supported them, Ivan Oskolkov, director of the department of the Ministry of Economic Development, told Vedomosti. Pleskachevsky is waiting for the government's response, then promises to prepare the final text of the draft. He believes that the amendments could be adopted before the end of the year.

Currently, in order to collect debts from a company director that remain after its liquidation, creditors must prove his guilt, says Dmitry Stepanov, a partner at Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev and Partners. The draft simplifies the task - a presumption of guilt is introduced for managers who did not make a timely decision to liquidate the company or did not file for bankruptcy. They will have to prove that they did not know about the signs of insolvency, otherwise the creditor can collect debts from any of them.

The project effectively eliminates limited liability in LLCs, Stepanov states. He believes that this is partly a reaction to the “clogged” registry with abandoned companies with debts, including to the state: tax authorities refuse to liquidate them, since there will be no one to collect the arrears from. No one in their right mind will make a record of liquidation at the tax office if there is even a ruble of debt, a tax authority employee confirms: “It’s the same as writing off a debt on behalf of the state.” If there is an opportunity to collect money from a member of the liquidation commission or the CEO, it will be easier to strike a company off the registry, he agrees, although there is often no one to collect from – directors and founders can be front men, homeless people.

To avoid liability, company managers will send formal notices to creditors, and may even file for bankruptcy just in case, notes Viktoria Podsosonnaya, senior lawyer at Yukov, Khrenov and Partners. If the amendments are adopted, company management will have to act very carefully – perhaps order independent assessments to confirm their decisions, agrees arbitration manager Evgeny Semchenko.

The directors will answer