Ben Aris in Moscow - A1 close to winning landmark victory to recover logistics park for Irish govt Ben Aris in Moscow July 16, 2013 Russia's famously creaky legal system will be put to the test on July 17 with an asset recovery case - and according to A1, the specialist distressed asset firm that is part of Alfa Group, it will pass. The case smacks of poacher turned gamekeeper: A1 is the M&A arm of Alfa Group (and as Alfa Ekho, was the first company the founders of the group, who include oligarch Mikhail Fridman, set up). Suffice to say, Alfa Group didn't cover itself in corporate governance glory in the 1990s. However, in April A1 went into a joint venture with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), which has been trying, so far unsuccessfully, to recover 12 assets in Eastern Europe (mostly buildings and some companies) that used to belong to the bankrupt developer, Quinn Group.