The acquittal of a farmer from Kabardino-Balkaria has been appealed.

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The court acquitted Tamara Erzhibova, head of the Majesty agricultural enterprise, of fraud after delivering corn to the Prokhladny grain receiving facility. The company's director filed a lawsuit demanding that the acquittal be overturned.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," the Arbitration Court of Kabardino-Balkaria ruled in March 2021 that the Prokhladnensky Grain Receiving Enterprise must compensate the agricultural enterprise "Majesty" 24 million rubles for spoiled corn seeds. This amount included the cost of the spoiled corn seeds, amounting to approximately 19 million rubles, and interest for the use of other people's funds, amounting to 5 million rubles. In August of that year, the appellate court overturned the decision to award damages.

Following a complaint from Vladimir Semenov, director of the Prokhladnensky grain receiving facility, a criminal case was opened in 2024 against Tamara Erzhibova, head of the agricultural enterprise "Majesty" in Kabardino-Balkaria, under Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code (fraud). She was accused of knowingly submitting spoiled corn for processing, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

In December 2024, the Prokhladnensky District Court acquitted the farmer. The Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria upheld the verdict. "During the criminal case, facts important for the arbitration dispute were established: Erzhibeeva's actions lacked the elements of a crime, that the approval certificate issued by Rosselkhoznadzor is a legitimate document, and the accusations of forgery are unfounded," lawyer Islam Khachetlov told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Tamara Erzhibeeva, commenting on the situation to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, noted that the main conclusion that can be drawn from the court's decision, which completely refutes the logic of the 16th Arbitration Court of Appeal regarding "late sowing" and "damage," is that the high-quality Majesty seeds did not perish at all. Based on the testimony of A. Mishchenko, head of the grain receiving facility's laboratory, the court found that the batch was intentionally substituted. The enterprise's elite seed material was illegally sold by the grain processing plant itself, and the farmer was offered substandard products in exchange.

Furthermore, the grain processing plant, having carried out the substitution, attempted to shift responsibility to the head of Majesty, offering to take back the results of its own machinations under the guise of a "spoiled" harvest.

Having proven her innocence in the criminal case, the head of Majesty filed a petition with the 16th Arbitration Court of Appeal in August last year to review the ruling of August 6, 2021, denying compensation for damages due to newly discovered circumstances. On December 2, 2025, the same panel of judges again ruled against the claim. "The court stated that 'the findings of the verdict do not refute their previous conclusions.' In other words, it prioritized the assumptions of 2021 over the objective facts established by the criminal court. "This is a direct violation of the law," stated lawyer Islam Khachetlov.

"The court refused to recognize the acquittal as a new circumstance, without conducting an analysis, even though the verdict invalidates the very documents on which the 2021 dismissal ruling was based. Moreover, the recognition of the expert opinion on which the appellate court's decision was based was deemed inadmissible evidence in the criminal proceedings. This is direct grounds for issuing a new decision in accordance with paragraph 2 of part 2 of Article 311 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (knowingly false or inadmissible expert opinion). "The court ignored all of this," the lawyer stated.

Khachetlov cited the Constitutional Court's ruling of January 16, 2025, which states that a formalistic approach, in which the final decisions of criminal proceedings are not taken into account when reviewing civil and arbitration cases, is unacceptable.

According to the lawyer, Erzhibova's acquittal and the ruling of the 16th Arbitration Court of Appeal contradict each other. The Prokhladnensky District Court found Erzhibova not guilty and recommended that she resolve the issue of damages in arbitration court.

The 16th Arbitration Court of Appeal again rejected the claim, ignoring the facts of Erzhibova's innocence established in the criminal proceedings and citing its previous findings, the lawyer said.

"This is a situation where the court's 'independence' translates into its lack of control over the law. Even the final verdict of the republic's highest court means nothing to three judges in Yessentuki. My company, Majesty LLC, has been closed since 2017. The direct damages amount to over 50 million rubles. Nine years of struggle have undermined my health. The acquittal should have been the end of it." But instead, it became merely evidence of a profound crisis, where one court can ignore another's decision with impunity, and the very foundation of the legal system—the principle of the binding nature of judicial decisions—is crumbling. The story of my case is a clear example of a systemic problem that can affect anyone. "If you can't find justice in court, then where will you look for it?" Erzhibova stated. Meanwhile, the director of the PKhPP appealed Erzhibova's acquittal to the Fifth Cassation Court in Pyatigorsk. The case hearing is scheduled for January 29th.