Key Takeaways:

• Moscow arbitration court ordered a Rosnano share arrest on stakes held by former deputy chairman Vladimir Avetisyan as security in an 11.9 billion rouble claim.
• The court froze specific holdings: 33.33% in Variant, 25% in M-Group, 25% in El-Transit Plus and 85.41% in Smartli.
• The ruling bars the Federal Tax Service from registering transfers and prevents the companies from disposing of assets or reorganising.
• Judges cited prior attempts to transfer shares and precedent from a related Plastic Logic dispute in upholding the measures.

Moscow Court Freezes Rosnano Executive’s Company Shares

Moscow’s arbitration court has ordered a Rosnano share arrest on holdings owned by Vladimir Avetisyan, a former deputy chairman of the state-backed nanotechnology investor Rosnano, as a precautionary measure in a high-value lawsuit. The decision, issued on 30 December, responds to a claim by Rosnano seeking to recover 11.9 billion roubles of alleged losses related to the Crocus project.

Rosnano share arrest bars transfers and reorganisations

The court imposed asset restrictions on several companies in which Avetisyan holds stakes, concluding that freezing cash alone would not adequately protect Rosnano’s interests. Earlier measures in the same case had already frozen defendants’ bank funds, including 3.6 billion roubles tied to Avetisyan.

According to court documents, Rosnano requested seizure of Avetisyan’s 33.33 per cent stake in Variant Limited Liability Company, 25 per cent in M-Group, 25 per cent in El-Transit Plus, and 85.41 per cent in Smartli. The tribunal granted those requests and made the ruling immediately enforceable.

The judgment specifically forbids the Federal Tax Service and its regional offices from carrying out registration actions in respect of the named stakes. It also bars the listed companies from undertaking any disposal or encumbrance of assets, including non-current assets, shares and participatory interests, and blocks entries in the unified state register of legal entities that would reflect liquidation or reorganisation by merger.

Judges noted that Avetisyan had previously attempted to transfer stakes in some of the affected companies. Rosnano had earlier sought to void transfers of shares in Variant, M-Group and El-Transit Plus; after voluntary rescission and return of the stakes to Avetisyan the court declined to grant Rosnano the relief it sought. The recent ruling references that history and also points to earlier case law where similar precautionary measures were upheld in a dispute concerning the Plastic Logic flexible tablet project.

The court’s approach emphasises the need to prevent dissipation of assets that could frustrate any future enforcement of a judgment. For Rosnano, the measure offers a route to preserve value while the substantive claim proceeds. For Avetisyan, the order constrains his ability to restructure or monetise his holdings pending resolution of the litigation.

Legal experts said such enforcement steps are a common feature of high-stakes corporate disputes in Russia, particularly where a claimant cites significant alleged losses and there is evidence of attempted asset transfers. The ruling does not determine liability on the substantive merits of Rosnano’s claim against Avetisyan and other former executives, including Anatoly Chubais. Those matters will be addressed as the case moves through the arbitration process.

Practically, the immediate effects of the decision will be administrative. The Federal Tax Service must refrain from recording changes to ownership or company structure for the named entities. The affected companies must likewise refrain from actions that would dispose of or encumber assets, which may complicate normal corporate operations until the restrictions are lifted or the dispute is resolved.

As litigation continues, market participants and creditors will be watching for any further enforcement steps and for the outcome of the Crocus project claim. The case underscores the role of precautionary measures in protecting claimants’ interests and the potential consequences for executives facing large-scale recovery actions by state-linked companies.