Russian Insolvency Law

This monograph is devoted to such an institution of the law of obligations as bankruptcy law. We are talking about an institution that contains the features of the fulfillment, security and discharge of the obligations of an insolvent debtor. These features are predetermined by the need to implement the principle of equality of creditors (pari passu): in case of insufficient funds for settlements with all creditors, it would be correct to distribute the corresponding loss (realized risk of insolvency) among all creditors in a similar position. In general, the corresponding risk is distributed among the creditors of the same queue by means of the rule on the proportional distribution of available funds (pro rata); however, prioritization aims to take into consideration the characteristics of creditors that make them subject them to less or more risk of debtor insolvency. It is precisely this distribution of risk that bankruptcy law deals with: in general, it prohibits individual satisfaction (a moratorium on individual fulfillment of obligations), gathers a team of creditors (by proof of debts and setting claims), hands over the bankruptcy estate to the debtor or insolvency practitioner to restore its volume to a level sufficient for settlements (restoration solvency) or for its sale (sale of the debtor’s property), establishes the rules for settlements with the entire team of creditors (priority and proportionality), protects the interests of creditors in the amount of satisfaction or equality in such satisfaction (challenging of the transactions), allows the team of creditors in some cases claim property masses of third parties (vicarious liability). The description of bankruptcy law, taking into account the foregoing, implies a consistent presentation of the doctrine of the pari passu principle, bankruptcy law as a mechanism for its implementation and the elements of such a mechanism. The structure of this monograph is sustained in this logic.