EU Project Pravo-Justice, Together with INSOL Europe, Held a Webinar on the Application of the Preventive Restructuring Procedure

On 24 January, an online webinar ‘Preventive Restructuring in Ukraine: Experience of EU Member States’ took place. EU Project Pravo-Justice organised the event in cooperation with INSOL Europe. The purpose of the event was to familiarise the participants with the practical aspects of implementing EU Directive 2019/1023 on preventive restructuring in EU Member States and its potential application in Ukraine.

Representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Ukrainian National Association of Insolvency Trustees, the banking community, EU Project Pravo-Justice, lawyers, as well as judges and renowned insolvency experts from Italy, France, Greece, Romania, and the Netherlands took part in the discussion.

Iryna Zharonkina, Enforcement and Protection of Property Rights Component Lead of EU Project Pravo-Justice, emphasised that the event is essential to better understand the opportunities available through preventive restructuring.

‘This webinar is a unique opportunity for Ukrainian judges and practitioners to learn about the peculiarities of preventive restructuring in the EU and to join the international INSOL community to further share their experience’, said Iryna Zharonkina.

In turn, Alice van der Schee, President of INSOL Europe, elaborated on the role of the Directive in the field of insolvency in European countries.

‘Preventive restructuring helps viable businesses remain financially stable and avoid bankruptcy. It is primarily aimed at viable businesses that have not yet ceased making payments,’ she said. Alice van der Schee emphasised that the European Commission is closely monitoring the transposition of the Directive into national legislation of the Member States.

The President of INSOL Europe also advised Ukraine to organise sufficient awareness-raising activities on the opportunities available through the preventive restructuring procedure.

‘To apply the procedure successfully, the businesses community should be aware of and ready to make use of the benefits offered by preventive restructuring,’ said Alice van der Schee.

Oleh Vaskovskyi, Secretary of the Bankruptcy Chamber of the Commercial Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court, noted that the courts have not yet received any applications for preventive restructuring.

Vladyslav Filatov, Director of the Bankruptcy Directorate of the Ministry of Justice, emphasised that it is crucial to discuss best European practices and adapt them to Ukrainian context in order to avoid mistakes when implementing new insolvency procedures.

Oleksandr Bondarchuk, Chair of the UNITA, emphasised that bankruptcy trustees play an important role in preventive restructuring procedures.

‘Bankruptcy trustees will play a key role, particularly in drawing up restructuring plans. Our community needs reliable tools and experience to fulfil their tasks in these new procedures,’ said Oleksandr Bondarchuk.

At the event, experts from the Netherlands, Greece, France, Italy and Romania shared their practical experience in applying the Directive. In particular, they focused on access to the procedure, facilitating negotiations between the parties to the restructuring plan and approving the restructuring plan.