## Facts

- Plaintiffs were metals-trading and management entities connected to the supply and management of two Russian industrial enterprises: Novokuznetsk Aluminum Zavod (NKAZ) and Kochkanarsky GOK (GOK).
- Defendants included Russian Aluminum and related companies and individuals alleged to have participated in a scheme to seize control of NKAZ and GOK.
- Plaintiffs alleged defendants used bribery and political influence, including payments to a regional governor, to trigger and steer judicial actions affecting NKAZ.
- Plaintiffs alleged corrupt criminal, civil, and bankruptcy proceedings in Russia led to punitive fines, an insolvency finding, and bankruptcy measures that displaced existing management and terminated plaintiffs’ management role and contractual expectations.
- Plaintiffs alleged broader coercive conduct in Russia, including judicial corruption and use of armed force, to effectuate the takeovers.
- Plaintiffs claimed economic injury from loss of contract rights and diminished value of their interests tied to NKAZ and GOK.
- Plaintiffs pleaded U.S.-law claims (including RICO), pointing to U.S. contacts such as some defendants’ U.S. residence and use of U.S. banking channels.
- After motions to dismiss were filed, the court permitted limited discovery focused on forum non conveniens and comity issues, including expert depositions on foreign law.

## Issues

1. Whether the case should be dismissed on forum non conveniens grounds because the dispute was centered in Russia and Russia provided an adequate alternative forum.
2. Whether international comity warranted dismissal or abstention because adjudication would require a U.S. court to assess or effectively invalidate Russian bankruptcy and judicial proceedings.
3. Whether allegations of corruption in Russian courts rendered Russia an inadequate forum for purposes of forum non conveniens.

## Decision

- The court granted defendants’ motions to dismiss.
- The court held that Russia was an adequate alternative forum and substantially more appropriate given the locus of events, evidence, and witnesses.
- The court concluded that private-interest factors (proof, witnesses, compulsory process, translation and logistics) strongly favored litigation in Russia.
- The court concluded that public-interest factors (Russia’s local interest, burdens on a U.S. court and jury, and the need to apply Russian law) strongly favored dismissal.
- The court further held that international comity reinforced dismissal because plaintiffs’ claims would require substantial intrusion into, and judgment upon, Russian bankruptcy and judicial actions.

## Legal Principles

- A case may be dismissed for forum non conveniens when an adequate alternative forum exists and private- and public-interest factors show the foreign forum is more appropriate.
- A foreign forum is not inadequate based on corruption allegations unless the remedy is so clearly unsatisfactory that it amounts to no remedy or the plaintiff will be deprived of any remedy.
- Heavy concentration of relevant conduct, parties’ relationships, evidence, and witnesses in a foreign country supports dismissal, especially where compulsory process is unavailable in the U.S. for key foreign witnesses.
- Public-interest considerations favor dismissal where the dispute implicates foreign law and foreign sovereign interests and would burden domestic courts with a largely foreign controversy.
- International comity counsels restraint where adjudication would effectively require a U.S. court to review, invalidate, or brand as illegitimate foreign judicial or bankruptcy proceedings.

## Conclusion

The court dismissed the action because the dispute concerned alleged takeovers of Russian companies through Russian governmental and judicial processes, making Russia the appropriate and adequate forum; comity concerns further supported declining to adjudicate claims that would entail passing on the validity and integrity of Russian bankruptcy and court determinations.


Base Metal Trading SA v. Russian Aluminum, 253 F. Supp. 2d 681 (S.D.N.Y. 2003)