Arbitration Manager in the Insolvency System: Systemic Crisis of Legal Status and Ways to Overcome It

Abstract

The relevance of the topic is justified by the fact that the effectiveness of the bankruptcy institution in Russia directly depends on the activities of the arbitration administrator. With an unprecedented increase in the number of insolvency cases (more than 430,000 in 2023) and deep legislative reforms in 2023–2025, its legal status is experiencing a systemic crisis. The purpose of the study is a comprehensive analysis of the causes of the crisis in the legal status of the arbitration administrator in the context of an increasing number of bankruptcy cases and the development of a concept for its reform. The research base of the study consists of Federal Law No. 127-FZ “On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)” as amended in 2023–2025, statistical data from the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Federal Resource Service for 2022–2024, judicial practice of arbitration courts, as well as scientific works by leading civil scientists (Belykh V.S., Telyukina M.V., etc.). The methodological framework includes a systematic approach, formal legal, statistical and comparative legal methods. The results of the study are as follows. A fundamental conflict of the public-private nature of the manager’s status has been identified as the root cause of systemic dysfunctions. Four sets of problems have been identified: the economic failure of the financing model, the disincentive remuneration system, the repressive practice of holding accountable, and the ineffectiveness of control by the SRO. A three-component reform model (legislative, institutional, technological) has been developed, including differentiation of procedures, three-level remuneration, joint and several liability of SRO and the digital platform “Bankruptcy 2.0”. In conclusion, it is noted that overcoming the crisis requires a paradigm shift from a liquidation to a rehabilitation model. The implementation of the proposed measures will make it possible to transform the arbitration manager into an effective professional crisis manager.