Cold storage after cargo detention: case А53-5764/2019

Storage costs · А53-5764/2019

The entrepreneur did not claim the value of the destroyed goods in this proceeding. The court examined the narrower loss of RUB 223,188 paid for refrigerated storage after unlawful customs action.

In case А53-5764/2019, the entrepreneur sought reimbursement of expenses arising from storage of goods detained by Taganrog Customs. The cargo was kept in a freezer chamber of LLC KF ‘cold-storage owner’ under a lease dated 1 August 2016. The unlawfulness of the earlier customs actions had already been established by court rulings in other cases.

That distinction is material. The court did not retry the entire detention history or award the value of 41 tonnes of goods. It examined a specific monetary loss: whether the expenses were incurred, whether they were caused by unlawful official action and which entity answered on behalf of the Treasury.

Court's monetary finding

RUB 223,188 was the documented storage expense, not the value of the entire cargo and not a universal compensation amount.

case А53-5764/2019

The Supreme Court listed the freezer lease, payment orders, cash receipt orders, seizure records and final judgments in cases А53-14724/2016, А53-14438/2017 and А53-25999/2017. The courts assessed the documents together and found fault, causation and the amount of expense proved.

By judgment of 5 December 2019, RUB 223,188 in damages was recovered from the Russian Federation represented by the FCS, payable from the Treasury. The appeal and circuit courts upheld the judgment. On 2 November 2020, the Supreme Court declined to refer the FCS appeal for review. The state fee is a litigation cost, not part of the damages; this article does not give an exact amount because available published versions of the rulings differ.

Causation

The chain required to turn an expense into recoverable lossEach link answered a separate question for the court.

01Unlawful act

established by final judgments

02Forced storage

the period is linked to the detention

03Contract and invoices

the basis of the charge is identifiable

04Actual payment

payment documents prove the expense

The territorial customs office carried out the immediate actions, but a claim against the federal Treasury is brought against the chief administrator of the relevant budget funds. The damages were therefore recovered from the Russian Federation represented by the FCS, while the claim against Taganrog Customs was dismissed. Later rulings separately allocated representative costs and did not change the principal damages amount.

A finding of unlawfulness alone is not enough. The evidence chain must be continuous: the authority's act, the period of forced storage, the warehouse contract, invoices, actual payment and the absence of another cause for the expense. If the value of the goods or lost profit is also claimed, each requires a separate calculation and separate evidence.