Your corporate creditor is bankrupt: whom to pay and how to verify payment details

Legal review: 4 October 2026 · Debt owed to a bankrupt company

This guide is for a buyer, customer, tenant or borrower owing money to an ordinary commercial company undergoing Russian bankruptcy. Banks and microfinance organisations have special rules; see our separate bank bankruptcy guide. Keep the roles clear: your creditor is the debtor in its own insolvency case, while its claim against you is an asset, or account receivable.

Must you pay if your creditor is declared bankrupt?

A bankruptcy declaration and liquidation of a company are distinct legal events. While the obligation exists, news of your creditor’s bankruptcy is not a separate basis for stopping payment. The claim against you may be collected or sold under the applicable procedure; Article 140 of Law No. 127-FZ expressly provides for sales of receivables during liquidation proceedings.

The creditor’s bankruptcy also does not automatically make your debt overdue or set a new contract price. Determine the due date and amount from your obligation and applicable law. A demand for immediate payment of the entire balance needs its own assessment, particularly under an instalment agreement.

A news item about a counterparty’s bankruptcy is not sufficient grounds for an accounting write-off. If instead you are trying to recover money from a bankrupt debtor, see the separate discussion of bad receivables following debtor bankruptcy.

How to verify payment details and authority

1. Identify the company. Match its INN and OGRN identifiers against the contract. A similar name does not establish that it is your creditor.
2. Check the bankruptcy stage. Review the current court order and EFRSB notices. Under Article 126, the former director’s powers end when liquidation proceedings open.
3. Request written payment instructions. Obtain the recipient, tax identifier, account, bank, BIC and evidence of the sender’s authority. Compare the response with independent official records.
4. Identify the obligation in the transfer. State the contract, payment period, invoice or other document and payment components. Keep the executed payment order.

Article 312 of the Civil Code allows a debtor to request proof that performance is accepted by the creditor or an authorised person; the debtor bears the risk of failing to request such proof. An email containing new bank details alone is therefore not a sensible basis for verification.

During liquidation proceedings, the company’s receipts generally go to its main account, subject to special exceptions in Article 133. Bankruptcy does not turn a representative’s personal card into the company’s account. Unusual third-party payment instructions require documentary review, rather than automatic acceptance.

If the claim was sold at auction or assigned

The purchaser may become your new creditor. Under Article 384 of the Civil Code, the right generally transfers in its existing scope and on its existing terms. The price paid for the claim differs from the amount of your obligation: a discounted purchase does not itself entitle you to pay only that price.

Check that the notice identifies your contract, the part of the debt transferred, prior payments and the legally effective transfer date. An auction protocol or sale announcement must be linked to evidence that the transfer has actually taken effect.

Where there are notices of successive transfers, Article 385 provides for performance in accordance with the notice of the latest transfer. Disputed authenticity or conflicting chains of title require examination of the documents. See also our guide to assignment of claims in bankruptcy.

What if two parties demand payment?

Collect both demands, the dates notices were received, evidence of authority and transfer documents. Ask for the discrepancies to be explained and record your willingness to pay the proper creditor. Simply retaining the money in your own account normally is not performance and does not automatically protect against default consequences.

Where there is obvious uncertainty about the creditor’s identity, including a dispute between competing claimants, Article 327 allows the amount due to be deposited with a notary. A court deposit is available in cases provided for by law. The statute also covers absence of the creditor at the place of performance, refusal to accept performance and other specified circumstances.

A deposit is not a universal “just in case” payment holiday. There must be a statutory basis, with the correct obligation and amount identified. A proper deposit counts as performance. If the debtor takes the money back before the creditor receives it, the obligation is not treated as performed.

What to request before transferring money

A practical written enquiry should include:

• your contract details and the disputed payment;
• a request to identify the current creditor and the signatory’s authority;
• complete bank details and the required payment reference;
• for an assignment, the claim transferred, amount, effective date and treatment of prior payments;
• specific inconsistencies between the instructions received and a request for explanation.

Hypothetical example. A buyer owes a supplier RUB 240,000. The supplier is in liquidation proceedings, but its former director asks for payment to a personal card. The buyer requests current authority and the company’s account, checks the court order and assignment notices. The buyer neither treats the debt as cancelled nor pays solely on the strength of old business correspondence. This illustrates a checking process, not a reported court case.

Frequently asked questions

Article 64(5.2) specifically includes claims against third parties among a liquidated company’s discovered assets. The fate of an individual claim therefore requires its own assessment.

Legal sources

Checked on 4 October 2026. Current statutory provisions reproduced in a legal reference system; the source texts are in Russian:

• Civil Code Article 64(5.2) — discovered assets;
• Civil Code Article 312 — proper recipient;
• Article 384 and Article 385 — scope and notice of assignment;
• Article 327 — deposits and Article 419 — liquidation;
• Article 126, Article 133 and Article 140 of Law No. 127-FZ.