Dmitry Zaritsky won a case in the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation in favor of Zhabinsky Sugar Plant against Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation

10-11-2012

One of the highlights of Verkhovodko & Partners work is the litigation on behalf of Zhabinsky sugar plant in the arbitration courts against Smolensk customs authorities.

In 2005 Smolensk customs initiated a criminal case under Section 1 Article 188 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (contraband) under which Zhabinsky sugar plant’s sugar bags have used as material evidence. The confiscated sugar was sold and the proceeds from such sale were transferred to the Head Department of the Federal Treasury of the Ministry of Finance for Smolensk customs authority.

After the closing of the criminal case the proceeds have been set-off against import duties and VAT. The plant’s initial claims have been denied. Within this litigation process we had to go all the way to the supreme court- Supreme Arbitration Court of Russia. In the supervisory complaint we were able to convince the Supreme Arbitration Court about the necessity to review the case: our arguments were accepted, which is rather notable due to the fact that supervisory review is exceptional and requires really solid grounds and reasoning. The Supreme Arbitration Court reviewed the case, reversed the decisions of the first instance court, appellate and cassation courts and ruled in favor of our client.