Action required: interim relief applications in Russian courts — new compliance obligation

Alert: Interim relief applications in Russian courts — new compliance obligation Effective: July 2027

Russian courts have progressively raised the documentation threshold required of creditors applying for interim measures. Applicants who submit insufficiently substantiated requests now face outright refusal at the preliminary stage — before the court reaches the merits of the application.

Foreign creditors pursuing asset tracing and enforcement against Russian counterparties are directly affected. An interim relief order — freezing bank accounts, encumbering real property, or restricting share transfers — remains one of the few tools available to a creditor seeking to preserve recoverable assets ahead of a substantive hearing. Under the revised practice now applied in most circuits, courts require applicants to demonstrate a concrete and documented risk of asset dissipation, not merely to assert it. Supporting evidence — transactional history, evidence of counterparty conduct, asset movement documentation — must accompany the initial application. A failure to meet this standard at first filing is not curable on appeal in the majority of cases reviewed by cassation courts.

Recommended action:

1. Review any pending or planned interim relief applications to confirm they include documented evidence of dissipation risk — not only a statement of the claim value.
2. Obtain an assessment of the applicable circuit's current evidentiary expectations before filing; practice varies between the West Siberian, Ural, and Moscow circuits.
3. Instruct Russian counsel with current knowledge of arbitrazh court practice on interim measures before the application is submitted.

For further context on how Russian courts currently evaluate interim relief requests, see Court practice shift on interim relief applications (/insights/atr-lu-014-court-practice-shift-on-interim-relief-applic/) and Key risk points in interim relief applications (/insights/atr-pb-014-key-risk-points-in-interim-relief-application/).

Creditors who delay re-assessing the documentation standard risk a refused application and the loss of the asset preservation window — a consequence that cannot be remedied after a counterparty moves assets beyond enforcement reach.

Speak to our team — info@vetrovpartners.com | WhatsApp/Telegram: +7 (983) 510-38-76

Vetrov & Partners is a Russian boutique law firm established in 2009, recognised by Pravo-300 for eight consecutive years. The firm's Asset Tracing & Recovery practice (/practices/asset-tracing-recovery/) advises foreign creditors on interim relief strategy, enforcement proceedings, and cross-border asset recovery in Russian courts. Direct partner involvement on every matter.

Enquiries: info@vetrovpartners.com | WhatsApp / Telegram: +7 (983) 510-38-76 | t.me/vitvetcom

This alert is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Vetrov & Partners is a Russian-qualified law firm. Contact info@vetrovpartners.com for advice on your specific situation.

— Elizaveta Razina Senior Lawyer, Practice Lead — IP Enforcement, Vetrov & Partners vetrovpartners.com/razina/