Dispute Resolution

Construction of major real estate facilities involves interaction of many participants, including the customer, the engineer, the general contractor, subcontractors, the design organization, etc. Turnkey contracts may be complicated with application of FIDIC books or foreign laws. No construction work goes smoothly, and the fault of only one party in violation of the facility completion and commissioning deadline is not obvious, as a rule.

The most common is the presentation of mutual claims for payment of a penalty for violation of the terms of performance of work and payment, quality claims. In difficult situations, a party can terminate the contract in accordance with the off-judicial procedure, and the second party can subsequently dispute such termination in court, claims damages. An expertise can be appointed to establish the scope and quality of works.

Lawyers perform legal examination of the dispute at the stage of its occurrence, assess the prospects of judicial consideration of the dispute, interact with technical experts, represent interests of the parties both during negotiations and during conflict resolution in court.

Many Belarusian enterprises, including state-owned ones, are modernizing their production facilities or building new plants. The basis of new technologies is state-of-art process equipment, which the supplier must supply and install on the turnkey basis, including commissioning works and bringing the facility to the design capacity.

The purchaser often makes errors in choosing equipment parameters or important issues of interaction between the parties remain unresolved in the contract due to the lack of sufficient qualifications with the purchaser in such projects. As a result of this, the ultimate goal of the contract remains either not achieved or one of the parties requires a change in the contractual terms, including payment for additional works and components, change of terms, etc.

Lawyers help to build the right strategy for dispute resolution, prepare justification of the reasons for non-performance of the contract by the parties, apply the correct rules of law (which is particular importance when concluding mixed contracts). If necessary, a professional or an expert organization is involved into the case by us.

Resolution of arbitration disputes has its specifics. The parties are more largely obliged to prove their position, the court staff can be involved to obtain evidence to a lesser extent. When making a decision, not only the law of the Republic of Belarus is considered, but other sources of law are also used. All the aforementioned causes the situation when representatives must have the appropriate qualification for professional protection of clients in arbitration courts.

Arzinger partners and lawyers conducted dozens of processes in arbitration courts, including cases involving supplying of goods and sophisticated equipment, design and construction works. A number of partners are on the lists of recommended arbitrators of well-known Belarusian and international arbitration institutions. We accompany dispute resolutions in the International Arbitration Court with the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Minsk, Belarus), the Arbitration Institute of Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (Stockholm, Sweden), the London Court of International Arbitration (London, UK), the Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce (Paris, France), the Vienna International Arbitration Center (VIAC), etc. Leading foreign experts in arbitration cooperate with Arzinger, which strengthens our client’s position in the litigation.

Thousands of investment agreement have already been concluded during the effective term of Decree No.10 of August 6, 2009 “On Creating Additional Conditions for Making Investments in the Republic of Belarus”. Many of them have not been implemented for the reasons that are disputed by the parties (not assisting the other party, changing the economic situation in the country, financial difficulties of the investor, creating obstacles to the activities by the government, etc.). Investment agreements involve application of sanctions to the party guilty of improper performance. As a party to an investment contract, The Republic of Belarus monitors implementation of projects and lodges relevant claims and suits to dispute resolution bodies agreed by the parties, if there are sufficient grounds for this.

Lodging of claims by the investor is also possible on the basis of international treaties of the Republic of Belarus on investments protection. 2017 and 2018 were marked by the cases of filing such suits against the Republic of Belarus (in the ICSID and other dispute resolution bodies).

Lawyers will assess the prospect of the dispute resolution, hold negotiations on off-judicial settlement of the dispute on the compromise terms, prepare the legal rationale and the strategy for the case review. We represent our clients’ interests in both state courts and arbitration institutions in the Republic of Belarus and abroad. Leading global experts in investment arbitration cooperate with Arzinger Law Offices, which strengthens our client’s position in the litigation.

Corporate disputes are potentially possible wherever there are two or more business owners. The reasons for disputes are mainly related to the fact that the key conditions for cooperation and division of money and the powers have not been settled in the very initiation of the business, and with the growth of business and profits these issues begin to get worse.

First of all, we help founders of a new business to reach  understanding before going into business together by concluding a partnership agreement. Such agreement has legal force and may cover business in various jurisdictions, it is lawful and enforceable. If a conflict has already arisen, we help conduct negotiations on restoration and settlement of relations, and, if it is impossible, to arrange a “civilized divorce”.

Participants in many corporate conflicts benefited from our help, as it saved their businesses from collapse. Corporate conflicts are very dangerous for the team and business, so lawyers must be involved to resolve them as early as possible.

The Republic of Belarus is a party to a number of international bilateral and multilateral treaties, on the basis of which it is possible to recognize and enforce decisions of foreign courts in Belarus. A similar process is used for recognition of Belarusian courts’ decisions abroad. At the same time, such treaties have not been signed with certain countries, but the principle of reciprocity in recognition and enforcement of court decisions may be applied.

Depending on the type of a judicial act and the basis for its recognition and enforcement, different documents are required. Besides, the procedure itself is not “automatic”. On the contrary, the other party is entitled to demand rejection in recognition and enforcement of such decision by referring to invalidity of the arbitration clause, violation of public law, and on other grounds.

Lawyers have considerable experience in representing clients in such cases in many jurisdictions, due cooperation with partners in the international network of Arzinger Law Offices. We will prepare the required documents and support the client in litigation.

Many disputes are reviewed in courts as a result of an emotional conflict between the parties.

Our partners help “sit down at the negotiating table”, understand the cause of conflicts, find the point of compromise, and conclude the “settlement agreement”. The parties can settle down the conflict at any stage, including enforcement proceedings. Both parties benefit from this, as they can concentrate on business, not war.

The bankruptcy institute allows terminating a business project after it has failed due to a number of economic reasons.

We help the client to plan the entire procedure correctly, starting from assessing the grounds for starting the procedure, preparing the debtor’s bankruptcy statement and selecting management candidates, and finishing with support of all procedures, including creditors’ meetings, collection of accounts receivable. 

Unfortunately, many debtors abuse this procedure and try to evade liability this way. We will help creditors not only with proper drawing up of the creditors’ requirements, but also with full protection of their interests at all stages.

Creditors’ protection often involves challenging of transactions, appealing against actions (omissions) of managers, performing of an expertise, bringing the director and members of the debtor to subsidiary liability, replacement of managers.

If a government body has visited your company with an inspection, it may result in accrual of additional taxes and sanctions, bringing the company and officials to administrative liability. Criminal cases may be instituted with significant amounts of unpaid taxes.

The prospect of challenging the inspection results largely depends on the competent building of work with the inspectors at the stage of the inspection proper. Sometimes, the line between a legal act and an invalid document is very thin, and the seemingly insignificant risk of challenging a transaction becomes real because the company has underestimated the volume of violations and omissions made at the stage of business transactions registration.

Lawyers help promptly prepare the legal rationale for economic transaction performed and provide the required explanations. We support the client in the course of appealing against the inspection results and challenging the administrative measures taken in court and administrative proceedings.

We are ready to conduct specialized training for company employees on how to behave properly when an inspection is performed and in case of potential arrest. We can develop the set of measures to protect managers and owners of your business from the threats related to economic offenses.

Collection of debts for products supplied, works performed and services rendered is a very common dispute. But such common disputes may require a special approach.

The set of debt collection measures includes checking the debtor for solvency, availability of valid legal proceedings and enforcement proceedings, selecting and conducting the most efficient debt collection procedure for a specific situation (lawsuit or writ proceedings, notary inscription for enforcement, tax authorities’ payment order, etc.).

We interact with bailiffs, the court, experts and enforcement organizations in the course of enforcement proceedings to achieve the maximum result.