First Russian to sue organizers of Kanye West’s canceled concerts receives 132,000-ruble ticket refund

Say Agency, the organizer of Kanye West’s canceled concert in St. Petersburg, has refunded 132,000 rubles to Voronezh resident Yevgeny Rasskazov, the first person in Russia to sue the company over the cancellation, his representative told TASS.

Rasskazov received the money on October 5. His representative said the refund covered the face value of four tickets. Rasskazov has yet to receive the additional 13,200 rubles he paid when buying them (likely a service fee).

His representative said Rasskazov had revised his claims against the concert organizer. He is asking the court to order the company to pay him 50% of the ticket price, a penalty for the delayed refund, and 30,000 rubles in compensation for emotional distress.

Rasskazov filed his lawsuit against Say Agency on September 9.

In mid-August, Say Agency said Kanye West would perform at Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg in October. The organizers said they had sold more than 100,000 tickets. Gazprom Arena representatives later said there was no agreement to rent the stadium for West’s concerts, meaning the event would not take place. On September 17, listings for the Russian concerts disappeared from the rapper’s website. Say Agency did not officially announce the cancellation of the performances until September 30.

In early October, ticket buyers began receiving emails saying refunds would begin on October 12. According to Kommersant, St. Petersburg police have begun looking into possible fraud by Say Agency. They will send the materials they collect to the Interior Ministry’s headquarters in Moscow, where officials will decide whether there are grounds to open a criminal investigation.