Raiding in Russia

I would like to appeal to all entrepreneurs, we are all under attack. Such a concept as “Raider takeover” has become an integral part of our lives. Enter, there are a lot of victims, the courts are full of cases on a variety of statements and articles, but nowhere is this concept truly heard, since it is not in the criminal code. Meanwhile, the concept of raiding and hostile takeover has long been present in a number of other countries. In a number of European countries, laws regulating these actions have existed since the mid-60s.

We are at the level of the 1920s - 1930s in the United States. At that time, American companies often became victims of mafia structures and corrupt police officers.

There are already many analytical articles saying that raider seizure is a combination of a number of criminal articles (Articles 159, 170, 171, 174, 174.1, 195, 196, 197, 202, 204, 285, 286, 290, 291 , 292, part 1, 3 of Art. 327 and Art. 330 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), each of which still needs to be proven, for which there must be an interest of the person conducting the investigation, a lot of evidence, etc., in parallel, you need to defend your rights in the courts. but by the time you go through all the trials, all the sentences for criminal charges will expire.

So, what is a raider takeover? This is the taking of a business associated with the seizure of property that was used for commercial purposes, provided jobs, and brought profit to the one who invested effort and resources in this property and turned it into a functioning organism. An organism that worked both for the benefit of the one who created it, and for the benefit of those who worked for his business, as well as for the benefit of the state, which received taxes from this business.
And often, such a taking away of a business does not lead to any improvement in it, but, on the contrary, destroys the idea itself, and either it smolders, warmed by its former warmth, or it goes out completely, not supported by the creator of this idea.

In my case, we are talking about the most brazen type of raiding - a criminal seizure by a group of people under the control of a United Russia deputy and cover by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor's Office. Apparently the harsh Russian climate, reminiscent of the times of the Great Depression in America, has an effect. No one here even thought about buying up shares, becoming one of the founders, or somehow “legitimizing” this “takeover.” They just came and took it away, while the whole system worked as if nothing had happened at all. The police decided that this was a civil matter, the Prosecutor's Office decided that this was a trifle, only the arbitration court was on my side, but this did not solve the problem of business compensation itself.

My business was the club-restaurant “Zavod”, which was located in Balashikha. It was taken away by unauthorized seizure of the premises and property located in the club for 9 million rubles, just like that, simply and stupidly, by welding the doors around the perimeter. The lessor was Russian Knitwear Company LLC; ironically, I note that they own the “Your” trademark. As an explanation, the landlord’s representative, member of United Russia, municipal deputy Balashikha Usoltsev, told me and repeated this in his testimony that the property was allegedly “arrested for debts.” Meanwhile, the very first arbitration court proved that I had no debts. The second arbitration court proved that the money was owed to me. However, a month later, my club functioned in the hands of other “owners,” as indeed it still is.

The problem also lies in the fact that raiders do very well in our country, and in my case the raider is also a representative of the ruling party. I absolutely did not want to paint my story in any political colors, but it so happened that everywhere and everywhere they answered me that the one who offended you is a deputy, also from United Russia, no one will mess with him. In this system, you can fight the one who stole the phone, but you can’t fight the one who took away the business, especially if he is a deputy, even a municipal one.

After addressing the Internet public in my LiveJournal post, I suddenly discovered that these same tenants (Russian Knitwear LLC, together with Usoltsev, took away the business (property worth 3 million rubles) from the owner of the Ideal Style forge. The fraud scheme was the same as in my case: On the eve of the seizure, Russian Knitwear Company LLC sharply increased the rent. Next, Usoltsev’s team carries out an unauthorized seizure of property under the pretext of “arrest for debts”, while, of course, there is no talk about any legal fact of termination of the lease agreement. The tenant's access to the premises is blocked, and the entrepreneur no longer sees either his property, or even his documents for the property, if they were there. As you understand, after some time, a similar structure was perfectly located on the site of the Ideal Style forge. (according to rumors) an order for OboronServis.

And the police just shrug their shoulders... “a dispute between business entities, go... to three letters, that is, to court,”

In my case (which I already wrote about), the plaintiff “Russian Knitwear” sent me notifications to the address that was seized by him (Sovetskaya 36), and only intuitively by looking on the Internet at the court’s website http://kad.arbitr.ru / I prepared and was at the meeting on time. And they, apparently, did not expect my appearance, and thought that my “debt” would be proven automatically. What a surprise the Stafiy company lawyer was when I not only appeared in court, but also provided confirmation of timely payment of the rent bill. As a result, the trial was won. However, the lawyer of the Russian Knitwear Company LLC did not disdain to bring fake documents to the appeal, but managed to snatch it from the judge when she drew attention to the obvious forgery. As a result, I won the trial both in the appellate and cassation instances. Thus, I have the impression that the lawyer for Usoltsev and “Russian Knitwear” does not disdain any methods in defense... And, of course, the absence of the other party in the courts plays into their hands.

I discovered that Russian Knitwear Company LLC has dozens of similar cases where entrepreneurs were defendants for non-payment of rent. Moreover, the amounts were very different, ranging from 20 thousand rubles to hundreds of thousands. And most entrepreneurs were not present at these meetings, which automatically gave Russian Knitwear a win. I wouldn’t be surprised if these entrepreneurs got caught just like me. But due to the lack of arbitration experience or money for good lawyers (in my case, I was just lucky with a lawyer), they were unable to adequately react in time and appear in court, but the reaction of the local police was predictable.

It should be noted here that arbitration practice is very unique. If you do not come to court, the plaintiff almost automatically wins it. At the same time, you may simply not know that you are having a court hearing; I have already mentioned that I was notified about the court at an address where I physically could not be.

And then I remember how Usoltsev told me that no one had ever won a lawsuit against them, they had already “eaten the dogs”...They couldn’t win a single lawsuit against me. But they won’t open a criminal case either, so I can’t call myself a winner in the fight for my business.

I am an example of a businessman who lost everything and decided to follow the law, proving what and how it happened, while I was proving, one article expired, while I prove others, the deadline for filing financial claims will expire, then the deadline for other articles will expire and that’s it will remain in its place unless a miracle happens, and gentlemen analysts do not convey to legislators that the raider takeover has one most important sign - a person had a business, and at some point this business ended up with another person, and if you do not block such situation, then everything will continue the same.

But I want to win, I want those who are in my situation to win, but even more I want the raiders to begin to fear inevitable punishment, so that the punitive system pays due attention to them, so that each of them receives real sentences and suffers real responsibility to affected entrepreneurs, both financial and legal.