Maxim Grachevsky has filed a lawsuit in the Moscow Arbitration Court seeking to recover more than 39 million rubles from Yeralash co-owner Arkady Grigoryan.
The Moscow Arbitration Court has scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for November 12 at 15:50 Moscow time, according to court documents cited by Russian news agency TASS. Grachevsky originally submitted the legal claim on July 8, but the capital arbitration tribunal officially accepted the application for legal proceedings in mid-August.
The official court documents list Filipp Grachevsky, the second son of the late film director Boris Grachevsky, as a third party involved in the legal proceedings.
Allegations of Mismanagement and Corporate Dispute
According to judicial records, Maxim Grachevsky previously won another lawsuit against Grigoryan in the Moscow Arbitration Court. In that prior action, Grachevsky accused Grigoryan of causing poor performance indicators at production company PC Yeralash LLC and overspending corporate funds.
Court documents state that Grigoryan has effectively managed PC Yeralash LLC since January 2021. A dispute arose between the two men over Grigoryan maintaining sole management of the company.
Grachevsky voiced doubts regarding the operational efficiency of the business entity following 2021, pointing out that nearly all staff members were dismissed after that period while the company's financial and economic metrics worsened.
Tax Audit Findings and Unauthorised Expenditure
A formal tax audit examining the financial and economic activities of PC Yeralash LLC from 2022 to 2025, conducted by audit firm FinsConsultingAudit LLC, identified a decline in company revenue alongside a rise in overall expenses.
Furthermore, the arbitration court previously established instances of unauthorised write-offs of company money for expenditures unrelated to the core activities of the organization. Case filings also highlight payments made to recipients under documents that the plaintiff claims were forged.
Court materials note an ongoing corporate conflict between the parties, which Grachevsky argued was demonstrated by PC Yeralash LLC refusing to hold an extraordinary general meeting of company participants. Grachevsky had requested to include agenda items on selecting an auditor and auditing company operations for the period spanning 2019 to 2025, but the meeting did not take place.
Background on Boris Grachevsky and Family Stakes
Boris Grachevsky was a celebrated Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, and co-founder of Yeralash, the iconic long-running children's television comedy newsreel created in the 1970s. Grachevsky passed away in 2021 at the age of 72 due to complications from coronavirus.
Following Grachevsky's death, management of the brand and its corporate entities became the subject of dispute among surviving family members and corporate partners. In 2024, reports indicated that the director's daughter, Ksenia Aleeva, became a co-founder of two corporate entities associated with the Yeralash brand.
