As the President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Vladimir Platonov, has noted, "The Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry has existed for almost 30 years, and during that time we have never experienced anything like this.” It has been declared that now there is work being done to prevent the spread of the virus, and that also all authorities are involved in exercising and taking precautionary measures to support and protect businessmen.
"The Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry is authorized to issue conclusive opinions regarding a force majeure, pending transactions and contracts, concluded in our region.” In addition to the fact that, according to the item 14 of the Decree of the Mayor of Moscow ¹ 26-UM from March, 26th, “the spread of coronavirus infection has reached the level that entails the emergency and critical measures, which have led to the introduction of raised awareness, according to the Federal law from December, 21st, 1994 ¹ 68-FZ "About protection of the population and territories in emergency situations of natural and man-made character”, which may be considered as a force-majeure condition, for which it is necessary not only to provide a contract, but to become eligible to obtain a conclusive opinion of the MCCI in reference to a force-majeure situation.
As Mr. Alexei Moiseev, the Director of the Legal Assistance and Mediation Center of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce, explained, the conclusion about the force majeure is a multi-page document, which is subsequently to be presented in a court of law. Now, according to an expert, more than 50 entrepreneurs apply to the MCCI daily for such a document. However, most of them are denied even at preliminary stages, as there are no grounds for treating the applicable situations as force majeures.
In particular, it concerns rent payments. “The lack of money is a commercial risk, not a force majeure," said Mr. Moiseev. In this situation, the MCCI’s experts recommend to hire competent lawyers and to be guided in negotiations with a landlord by the Article 451 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation "Amendment and termination of the contract due to significant changes in circumstances". Application for this measure of legislature may allow a change in the terms of a contract, delay payments or appoint a "vacation" on the rent.
As the President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers (Ho Re Ca), Mr. Igor Bukharov reminded, during the crisis of 2014 there was a serious conflict between landlords and tenants in the restaurant sector. A memorandum was signed, according to which landlords were invited to meet their tenants and restructure payments. At the same time, in case of termination of a contract on the initiative of the landlord, the professional community guaranteed that the landlord would not be able to find a new client. "This measure worked and the situation gradually levelled off," said Mr. Bukharov.
He also said that a number of meetings with the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Economy and other relevant authorities had already been held. All the problems of the industry have been voiced and now adequate measures on the part of the authorities are expected in the nearest future. At the same time, all participants of the meeting noted that the situation is now so unconventional that decisions should be taken ASAP, including legislature. At the same time, entrepreneurs of Moscow now bear the greatest losses, due to the closure of fitness facilities, restaurants, cafes, a catastrophic decrease in tourist attendance in hotels. Therefore, according to representatives of the business community, the MCCI should take into account the economic situation in the region and develop proposals to protect the interests of entrepreneurs.
Returning to the problem of identifying force majeure’s circumstances, Mr. Platonov appealed to representatives of Ho Re Ca with a proposal to assist in developing a sound basis for the preparation of conclusions on force majeures in the sphere of restaurant and hotel business. All proposals will be promptly reviewed and considered.
The full conference video is available by clicking here:
https://youtu.be/9edrkjkmuoM://youtu.be/9edrkjkmuoM
Detailed background information on the procedure of legal registration of force majeure
https://mostpp.ru/news/deyatelnost-mtpp/fors-mazhor-iz-za-koronavirusa-voprosy-i-otvety/https://mostpp.ru/news/deyatelnost-mtpp/fors-mazhor-iz-za-koronavirusa-voprosy-i-otvety/
The full conference video is available by clicking here: