Oilchart International

Provisional text OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERALMEDINAdelivered on 18 April 2024 (1)Case C‑394/22 Oilchart International NVv O. W. Bunker (Netherlands) BV,ING Bank NV(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Hof van beroep te Antwerpen (Court of Appeal, Antwerp, Belgium))(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Judicial cooperation in civil matters – Jurisdiction – Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 – Article 1(1) and (2)(b) – Concept of ‘civil and commercial matters’ – Matters excluded – Bankruptcy and proceedings relating to the winding-up of insolvent companies or other legal persons – Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 – Article 3(1) – Actions deriving directly from insolvency proceedings and closely connected with them)1.        Oilchart International NV (‘Oilchart’) is a Belgian company which is seeking the recovery of an unpaid invoice for the bunkering of an ocean-going vessel in the port of Sluiskil (the Netherlands). That invoice had been left unpaid when the debtor, O. W. Bunker BV NL (‘OWB NL’), a Netherlands company, became insolvent. The action in the main proceedings was brought in Belgium following the opening of the insolvency proceedings in the Netherlands.2.        This situation raises the question whether the hof van beroep te Antwerpen (Court of Appeal, Antwerp, Belgium), a court which is not presiding over the insolvency proceedings, can have jurisdiction over the action by which Oilchart is seeking the recovery of that invoice.3.        The case gives the Court of...