How to get the debt back in Belarus: advice for a beginning businessman
It is no secret that entrepreneurial activities involve certain risks, including the risk of non-receipt of counter satisfaction, simply speaking money (for example, failure to pay for goods delivered, services rendered or works performed). In such circumstances, there is a need to take measures to collect the debt.
The simplest way is to phone the debtor’s employees and demand the debt repayment, as well as to find out the reasons and terms for paying off the debt. Ideally, consent to repay the debt within a certain timeframe must be documented in writing, since it will significantly facilitate the enforced debt collection in future.
So far as in practice, oral communication for the debt repayment rarely gives results. Therefore, the next step lies in preparation and sending of a claim letter. In accordance with legislation of the Republic of Belarus, the pre-court procedure for resolving a dispute between the legal entities shall be mandatory. The letter of claim must meet certain requirements, including to be sent by registered mail with return notification requested. The total time for consideration of the letter of claim shall make 1 month. It should be noted that the legislation allows to determine a shorter period for consideration of the claim (for example, 5 business days) in the agreement. It may happen that the letter of claim will remain without response, but it does not prevent you to apply to the court. Should a written letter of claim or oral negotiations bring no results, you may refer to the notary or go to court.
You may ask the notary for the executive inscription, if you have all the necessary documents duly executed, and from these documents, it can be seen that your letter of claim is indisputable and the debtor agrees with it, for example, you have a properly executed reconciliation certificate signed and sealed by the authorized persons.
If your documents are not in the proper order, for example, you did not make sure that the debtor signed and provided you with your copy of the agreement in a timely manner, it should not be recommended to apply to the notary and you should prepare for a court dispute. Keep in mind that the court can be public or private: tribunal or arbitration court. The parties may apply to the arbitration court or tribunal, if they agreed about it in their agreement in a due manner. Each such court has its own rules of consideration and they must be read before executing the relevant procedural document. In case you apply to the public court, please determine the type of proceedings: writ proceedings or action proceedings. If the claim is declared in the form of writ proceedings, it shall be considered in a short time and without calling the parties to court, but with payment of a small state duty. However, there must be reasonable grounds for applying to the writ proceedings, for example, the claim is recognized (not contested) and still it is not satisfied. It may be response to the claim, from which it follows that the organization agrees with the amount of debt, but it cannot pay at the moment, since its own debtors did not pay it in time...
Nevertheless, if the debtor in response to the claim expressed a complete disagreement with the ground for and the amount of the debt, then the only option remains, i.e. to appeal to the court with a statement of claim and prepare for a long litigation, since the debtor is likely to delay the process in every possible manner. You should also remember that the plaintiff is entitled to claim not only to recover the principal debt, but the interest and penalties for the use of other people’s money as well.
Receipt of a court decision and its entry into force is really only half the work, since it is further important to properly build your relationship with the bailiff in the enforcement process. If in the enforcement proceedings the money has not yet been recovered, then you should refer to the court with the lender’s application to declare the debtor bankrupt and then the anti-crisis manager will serve the statement of claim against the persons, who are guilty in the debtor’s bankruptcy, bringing them to the subsidiary responsibility.