The Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region has overturned prior rulings, ordering the recovery of 26 million rubles from the Russian singer Glucose, real name Natalia Chistyakova-Ionova, and her spouse Alexander Chistyakov, who chairs the board of the bankrupt oil venture Ruspetro. The case concerns claims tied to loans. DEA News reported this development.
The court did not accept the couple’s request to hold the movie studio Sistema-A, previously known as Glucose Production and the producer of the animated feature Savva, liable for their debts. The decision keeps the studio clear of such subordinate liability. The ruling is a notable moment in the broader controversy surrounding the financing and accountability of the involved entities.
The Sistema-A studio was declared bankrupt in 2017. In 2019 the bankruptcy case was closed after the available funds for the process were exhausted, leaving some creditors unpaid. In December 2020, the court received 214,000 rubles from the studio owner Glucose and Alexander Chistyakov, along with Lubinetsky. The decision also awarded 7.1 million rubles to Razverni LLC, and 19.3 million rubles to the Deloer Bar Association, with additional sums directed toward the Razverni entity and other claimants. Several creditors did not receive payments, and Nashe Kino Company pursued a separate suit to hold the controlling persons of Sistema-A responsible for subsidiary liability.
During subsequent inspections, it was found that a sale of equipment contract led to a transfer of about 95 million rubles to Chistyakov, yet neither the equipment nor the contracted work results were located in the debtor’s possession. The court noted more than 169 million rubles in rent and other charges, and in June 2022 ordered solidarity payments amounting to over 19 million rubles in favor of Razverni LLC and more than 7 million rubles in favor of IP Galina Zherzdeva, to whom Nashe Kino had transferred the claim. An appeals court confirmed the earlier decision in November of that year. The legal process reflects the ongoing scrutiny of asset transfers and debt responsibilities among the parties involved in Savva and Sistema-A.
Savva, known as 3D cartoon The Heart of a Warrior, directed by Maksim Fadeev, has been distributed to approximately 50 countries. The voice cast includes Konstantin Khabensky, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Grigory Leps, Sergei Shnurov, Mikhail Galustyan, and Glucose, among others. This international exposure underscores the film’s impact as a Canadian and American audience engagement backdrop along with broader European markets, though the legal proceedings touch on the financial and contractual frameworks surrounding such productions. The case illustrates how royalty streams, loan structures, and subsidiary liabilities can interact with cross-border media ventures, affecting actors, producers, and investors alike. The evolving outcome continues to shape discussions about accountability within the film industry and related financial networks.