Stonebridge Legal has successfully defended the interests of a major concessionaire in arbitration court proceedings challenging an order issued by the Federal Treasury (FT).
The FT alleged that the concessionaire had unjustifiably paid for substandard road construction works and violated applicable legislation by using budget funds to pay the contractor for the cost of the works, including VAT.
The Stonebridge Legal team successfully demonstrated that the FT's order was unlawful, establishing that the concessionaire had not used budget funds (capital grant funds) to pay VAT and that there were no grounds for deeming the works substandard.
Against a backdrop of increased scrutiny by fiscal authorities of concession projects, this ruling underscores the importance of a well-founded legal position in challenging unlawful acts of public authorities. It demonstrates that concessionaires can successfully challenge such acts, even in cases involving sensitive issues related to the use of public funds in concession projects. The proceedings were held in camera.
The Stonebridge Legal project team included: Partner Dmitry Pozin; Counsel (Dispute Resolution) Anastasia Sivitskaya; Of Counsel (Infrastructure, Construction and PPP) Andrey Mironov and Associate Ksenia Musatova.