By JIGGSLAW®. A Russian arbitral tribunal has dismissed a shopping center owner’s claim against Zara and Bershka for over ten million euros in rent’s leasing debts, a penalty for work suspension, losses, and unjust enrichment.
Victor & Co Mega Park LLC (the owner of Samara’s “Cosmoport” shopping center) had filed a 512 million rouble claim against Zara and a claim for over 242 million roubles against Bershka for (a little bit more than 10 million euros).
Last, and according to Russian news outlets, the tribunal has denied the claimant’s request. (see Собственник торгового комплекса хотел взыскать с магазинов более 750 млн рублей”, Анастасия ФИЛАТОВА, WWW.SAMARA.KP.RU, 23.01.2023).
The arbitration was filed at the arbitration court in the Samara region; It sought compensation for losses caused by the company’s suspension of operations and withdrawal from the Russian market. (See “Торговые центры массово судятся с не желающими освобождать помещения Zara, Bershka и другими компаниями группы Inditex”, Иннокентий Колбасов, versia.ru, 02.09.2022).
Other claims in the Russian market:
According to this latter Russian outlet, Russian shopping centres are requesting that the Inditex Group pay fines and rent penalties as a result of Zara, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, and other brands ceasing operations. There are 32 pending cases of this type.
Since the spring of 2022, nearly three thousand foreign brands have ceased operations in Russia. Inditex has about 500 retail stores in Russia. In March and October, Inditex announced its intentions to cease operations when the Spanish firm informed the Spanish Financial Conduct Authority (CNMV in Spanish) that it reached an agreement to sell its Russian business to the Middle Eastern Daher Group (See “Note sent to the Spanish Financial Conduct Authority,” Inditex, 25.10.2022.)
