Valeriy Ernestovich Drelle (Respondent) v Servis-Terminal LLC (In Liquidation In The Russian Federation) (Appellant)

Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2025/0094

Parties

Appellant(s)

Servis-Terminal LLC

Respondent(s)

VALERIY ERNESTOVICH DRELLE

Issue

Can a bankruptcy petition be founded on a foreign judgment which has not been recognised in England and Wales?

Facts

Mr Drelle is the former chief executive of Servis-Terminal LLC, a Russian company which had been declared bankrupt. Its trustee in bankruptcy (in charge of administering the bankruptcy estate) brought proceedings against Mr Drelle in relation to an unpaid loan that Servis-Terminal LLC had made to another Russian company and which Mr Drelle was said to have procured in bad faith, so that he was liable to compensate Servis-Terminal LLC for its losses. A Russian court ruled in Servis-Terminal LLC’s favour and served a bankruptcy petition on Mr Drelle, who was residing in the UK. The UK Insolvency and Companies Court granted this petition. The High Court dismissed Mr Drelle’s appeal, holding that a bankruptcy petition could be founded on a foreign judgment which had not been recognised in England and Wales. The Court of Appeal allowed Mr Drelle’s appeal and ordered that the bankruptcy order be set aside and the bankruptcy petition be dismissed. Servis-Terminal LLC now appeals to the Supreme Court.

Date of issue

6 June 2025

Case origin

PTA

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