Frederique Dahan
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199259366
- eISBN:
- 9780191698606
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199259366.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Legal Profession and Ethics
Although insolvency legislation appeared on the statute books of most of the countries of the former Soviet bloc, the actual practice of bankruptcy was mostly unknown under the state-controlled ...
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Although insolvency legislation appeared on the statute books of most of the countries of the former Soviet bloc, the actual practice of bankruptcy was mostly unknown under the state-controlled economy because debtors and creditors were generally arms of the state or were ultimately supported by it. As the conflicts of interests that inherently drive insolvency proceedings did not exist, debt recovery and the ‘orderly market exit’, which are seen as key elements of any insolvency law by Western lawyers, were not functioning. There is now a general recognition that bankruptcy legislation is essential for the process of transition. As a result, international financial institutions are pressing individual countries to reform their laws. This chapter examines the 1998 Russian Bankruptcy Law in the context of these objectives and the specific characteristics of Russian economic and social circumstances. It then considers the impact of such reform.Less
Although insolvency legislation appeared on the statute books of most of the countries of the former Soviet bloc, the actual practice of bankruptcy was mostly unknown under the state-controlled economy because debtors and creditors were generally arms of the state or were ultimately supported by it. As the conflicts of interests that inherently drive insolvency proceedings did not exist, debt recovery and the ‘orderly market exit’, which are seen as key elements of any insolvency law by Western lawyers, were not functioning. There is now a general recognition that bankruptcy legislation is essential for the process of transition. As a result, international financial institutions are pressing individual countries to reform their laws. This chapter examines the 1998 Russian Bankruptcy Law in the context of these objectives and the specific characteristics of Russian economic and social circumstances. It then considers the impact of such reform.
