Non-paying partners

Let us assist you if you are facing difficulties regarding an invoice issued to one of your business partners or if one of your invoices or part of it is unpaid, contested, or if your partner disappeared and cannot be contacted.
In such cases our solicitors first perform a follow-up of the company’s particulars and issue a lawyer’s reminder. If the partner still fails to pay, we either initiate liquidation proceedings or file a petition with the relevant court for a payment warrant or initiate a legal action, depending on the circumstances of the case.

Liquidation proceedings and the appointment of a temporary administrator

If you as a creditor are afraid that your debtor is about to rescue its assets before the conclusion of the liquidation proceedings, then you can, simultaneously with the filing of the petition for liquidation or thereafter (but not later than the commencement of the liquidation proceedings) request that the court should appoint a temporary administrator to oversee the business management of the debtor if the later settlement of the debt is jeopardised and you can support your claim with at least a private document providing full evidence. The temporary administrator shall, while ensuring the protection of the creditors’ interests, monitor the debtor’s activities and assess its financial standing, including a review of the debtor’s books, cash assets, securities and tangible assets, and documents, and shall also audit its invoices, request information from the management, enter the debtor’s premises and investigate any of its assets. The debtor shall, upon the request of the temporary administrator, grant access to and open any of its locked premises (including drawers, filing cabinets and other furniture) without delay. The temporary administrator may disclose information acquired this way to the relevant court only.

Debt recovery by legal action

If you initiate court proceedings to recover a debt and are afraid that the assets that could cover the settlement of your claim might disappear before the final judgement is passed, you can file a petition to the relevant court for attachment of the debtor’s assets. Attachment can be filed for if you assume that a later settlement of the debt is at risk and if you can support your claim with at least a private document providing full evidence.
In case your defaulting partner is suspected to have rescued its assets that could cover the settlement of the claim from the debtor company, you are entitled to initiate the following proceedings against the manager and the owners of the debtor company:

1. Legal action against the managers

During the liquidation proceedings the creditor may submit a petition to the court to declare that the persons who acted as managers of the company during the three years prior to the liquidation proceedings failed to perform their duties in line with the best interests of the creditors after the situation involving the risk of becoming insolvent had emerged and thereby contributed to the reduction of the assets of the debtor company or prevented the full settlement of the creditors’ claims. The risk of becoming insolvent arises when the managers of the company foresaw or could reasonably have foreseen that the company would not be able to meet its payment obligations on maturity.

2. Legal action against the owners of the company

Upon the cessation of a limited liability company and of a company limited by shares without a legal successor members must not plead their limited liability if they abused such limited liability. Members of a limited liability company who, at the expense of creditors, abused their limited liability or the fact that the company had a separate legal personality shall bear joint and several liability for the  unsettled  debts of the extinct company (i.e. the entire claim may be asserted against each singe manager).
Members are liable in line with the above in particular if they exploited the company’s assets as their own, reduced the company’s assets to their own or third parties’ benefit while they were or should have been aware, had they exhibited the reasonably expectable due care, that their actions would prevent the company from meeting its liabilities towards third persons.