15.

FINANCING COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

Supply contracts

The Company has various agreements covering its sources of supply, which, in some cases, may be terminated by either party on relatively short notice. Thus, there is a risk that a portion of the Company’s supply of products could be curtailed at any time.

Bank Guarantees

In accordance with current legislation in Russia each producer of spirit beverages must acquire excise stamps and must pay excise tax in full before buying spirit for production purposes. For each lot of stamps purchased, the alcohol producer must provide the relevant body with a bank guarantee in the full amount of payment for the excise tax to secure the legality of usage of the excise stamps. This bank guarantee serves as insurance against the illegal usage of excise stamps by an alcohol producer.

In addition, under new legislation effective since August 1, 2011 the producer purchasing spirit alcohol must a) prepay the excise tax in full or b) provide the relevant tax body with a bank guarantee in the full amount of the excise tax before purchasing to secure payment of the excise tax. This bank guarantee serves as insurance that the excise tax is paid in time.

Russian Alcohol has in place a guarantee line agreement with multiple banks pursuant to which it was provided with a guarantee limit of 22.7 billion Russian rubles (approximately $735.5 million) for a period from 1 to 4 years, Bravo Premium signed a guarantee line agreement with multiple banks pursuant to which it was provided with a guarantee limit of 820.0 million Russian rubles (approximately $26.5 million) for a period from 1 to 2 years and Whitehall has in place a guarantee line agreement with multiple banks pursuant to which it was provided with a guarantee limit of 1.2 billion Russian rubles (approximately $37.5 million) as insurance against the illegal usage of excise stamps.

According to the agreements, companies have the right to obtain bank guarantees during the agreement term for each purchase of excise stamps and for the purchase of spirit. The guarantees for excise stamps are held by Rosalkoregulirovanie (the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation), during the whole production period for which the excise stamps were purchased. The guarantee for excise tax is held by the beneficiary (the tax body) for 6 months after the end of month the spirit was purchased.

As of September 30, 2012, the Company has bank guarantees related to customs duties on imported goods in Poland of 4.4 million Polish zlotys (approximately $1.4 million).

Operating Leases and Rent Commitments

The Company makes rental payments for real estate, vehicles, office, computer, and manufacturing equipment under operating leases. The following is a schedule by years of the future rental payments under the non-cancelable operating lease as of September 30, 2012:


2012	$	2,918
2013		9,130
2014		8,722
2015		8,148
2016		5,536
Thereafter		2,976

Total	$	37,430

During 2012, the Company continued its policy of renewing its transportation fleet by way of capital leases. The future minimum lease payments for the assets under capital lease as of September 30, 2012 are as follows:


2012	$	594
2013		593
2014		236

Gross payments due	$	1,423
Less interest		(100	)

Net payments due	$	1,323

Legal proceedings

From time to time we are involved in legal proceedings arising in the normal course of our business, including opposition and cancellation proceedings with respect to trademarks similar to some of our brands, and other proceedings, both in the United States and elsewhere. Except as set forth below, we are not currently involved in or aware of any pending or threatened proceedings that we reasonably expect, either individually or in the aggregate, will result in a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial statements.

On October 24, 2011, a class action complaint titled Steamfitters Local 449 Pension Fund vs. Central European Distribution Corporation, et al., was filed in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey on behalf of a putative class of all purchasers of our common stock from August 5, 2010 through February 28, 2011 against us and certain of our officers. The complaint seeks unspecified money damages and alleges violations of federal securities law in connection with alleged materially false and misleading statements and/or omissions regarding our business, financial results and prospects in our public statements and public filings with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission for the second and third quarters of 2010, relating to declines in our vodka portfolio, our need to take an impairment charge relating to the deterioration in fair value of certain of our brands in Poland and negative financial results from the launch of Żubrówka Biała. Subsequent to the above complaint, a second, substantially similar class action complaint titled Tim Schuler v. Central European Distribution Corporation, et al., was filed in the same court. By court orders dated August 22, 2012, the Steamfitters action and the Schuler action were consolidated and are now proceeding in the District of New Jersey under the caption In re Central European Distribution Corp. Securities Litigation.

On June 8, 2012, a purported securities fraud class action titled Grodko v. Central European Distribution Corporation, et al., was filed against the Company in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiff in the lawsuit, who is suing purportedly on behalf of a class of all purchasers of the Company’s common stock between March 1, 2010 and June 4, 2012, alleges that the Company made false and/or misleading statements related to and/or failed to disclose that (1) the Company’s reported net sales in the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2011 were materially inflated; (2) as a result of a failure to account for retroactive trade rebates provided to the customers of Russian Alcohol, the Company anticipates restating its reported consolidated net sales, operating profit and related accounts for these periods; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, the Company’s statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On August 7, 2012 a second, substantially similar class action complaint titled Puerto Rico System of Annuities and Pension for Teachers v. Central European Distribution Corporation, et al., was filed in the same court. By court orders dated September 4, 2012, the Grodko action and the Puerto Rico System of Annuities and Pension for Teachers action were transferred to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, where the actions have been consolidated with the prior-pending cases in New Jersey, described above, and are proceeding under the caption In re Central European Distribution Corp. Securities Litigation. Objections by certain plaintiffs to the consolidation of these actions are pending.

The Company intends to mount a vigorous defense to the claims asserted. Although we believe the allegations in the class action complaints are without merit, these types of lawsuits can be protracted, time-consuming, distracting to management and expensive and, whether or not the claims are ultimately successful, could ultimately have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and cash flows.

As noted in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2011, filed with the SEC on October 5, 2012, the Audit Committee, through its counsel, voluntarily notified the SEC of its internal investigation regarding the Company’s retroactive trade rebates, trade marketing refunds and related accounting issues. The Company has subsequently been contacted by the Fraud Division of the Criminal Division of the US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) regarding the disclosure in the Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2011, filed with the SEC on October 5, 2012 that there has been a breach of the books and records provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) of the United States and potentially other breaches of the FCPA. The Company has been asked to provide information about these matters on a voluntary basis to the SEC and DOJ. The Company is fully cooperating with the SEC and DOJ. Any action by the SEC or DOJ could result in criminal or civil sanctions against the Company and/or certain of its current or former officers, directors or employees.