MECHANISMS FOR THE PROTECTION OF CREDITORS’ RIGHTS IN THE PROCESS OF ENTERPRISE BANKRUPTCY IN UKRAINE: ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL APPROACH

Abstract

The article analyzes the innovations of the Bankruptcy Code of Ukraine, which came into force in 2019, and their impact on the mechanisms for protecting creditors’ rights in the context of the administrative and legal approach. The goal is a comprehensive study and evaluation of the mechanisms for protecting the rights of creditors in the process of bankruptcy of enterprises in Ukraine with an emphasis on the administrative and legal approach. Research methods used by the author were methods of accumulating facts related to the object of research, methods of analyzing facts (estimation, comparison, comparison), methods of selection and justification of scientific recommendations. Results. The recent legislative changes have radically transformed the bankruptcy practice in Ukraine, in particular, in the direction of a greater focus on protecting the interests of creditors. The article begins with an overview of the main changes introduced to the legislation, which eliminated the need to obtain a court decision on debt collection and confirmation of the executive service in order to file for bankruptcy. This significantly reduced the time and financial costs of opening bankruptcy proceedings. The number of requirements for pretrial rehabilitation has also been reduced, making it more accessible to large enterprises. Important innovations include simplification of the liquidation procedure and improvement of the mechanisms for protecting the rights of creditors. The author emphasizes the importance of the expanded powers of insolvency receivers, who have been granted the ability to invalidate transactions and recover lost company assets. The article also examines the impact of the innovations on court practice, where it has become possible to bring to justice unscrupulous managers and owners of debtors. Changes in the regulation of creditors’ rights are also considered through the prism of new conditions for creditors’ meetings. The Code clearly defines the terms of their powers, which contributes to a more transparent and efficient organization of the meeting. In addition, the Code introduces new rules regarding the moratorium for secured creditors, automatically terminating the moratorium after six months. The author emphasizes that the Code provides creditors with more opportunities to enforce their claims and ensures better protection of creditors’ rights than under previous legislation. The author also discusses the automation of processes and changes in the procedures for creditors’ meetings, which improve the efficiency of the bankruptcy process. Conclusions. The Bankruptcy Code of Ukraine significantly improves the existing legal system, providing new tools to protect the rights of creditors and ensure a more efficient bankruptcy process. This contributes both to the improvement of the situation with debts in Ukraine and to the increase of the level of trust in the legal system as a whole.