ALUMNI Partners successfully defends VimpelCom in Russia's first-ever Eurobond disputes

The legal proceedings were initiated by Russian holders of VEON Holdings B.V. bonds (major Russian financial organisations) that had not received coupon yield on the Eurobonds owing to them being blocked by sanctions since March 2022 on central depository (NSD) accounts opened with foreign clearing and settlement centres (Euroclear / Clearstream).

The courts supported the ALUMNI Partners position that the overdue coupon payments and penalties could not be recovered from VimpelCom PJSC, which had previously belonged to the same group of companies as VEON Holdings B.V., the foreign issuer of the Eurobonds.

This is a landmark case for shaping and developing the practice of regulating Eurobond payments. The court judgements are unprecedented and practice-forming, as no such claims have yet been rejected.

The ALUMNI Partners team was led by Ivan Veselov, Partner, Dispute Resolution Practice. The team also included:

Angelika Doguzova, Senior Associate;

Sanal Nonukov, Associate;

Anna Karachun, Junior Associate.

Tatiana Parshak, Partner;

Artemiy Bondarev, Counsel.