The Esculab laboratory network fulfills its obligations, but a conflict between the owners has jeopardized the network's development plans, according to Natalia Kohut, the medical director of the company Esculab.

"We are fulfilling the commitments we made in 2024 regarding research at 100%. However, the issue related to interaction between co-founders of the company has unfortunately hindered the network's dynamic growth," she stated at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

Kohut mentioned that in 2024, the company had planned to open 25 branches in Kyiv and Lviv regions and expand into the central and eastern regions of Ukraine.

"Such opportunities were indeed available to us. We have already opened three laboratories outside Lviv and Kyiv, but unfortunately, we do not currently have that possibility," she added.

Kohut also said that since the start of the full-scale invasion, the network has undergone quality management accreditation. Additionally, Esculab provides daily medical services for over 5,000 patients through laboratory research.

"We conduct honest business operations, with no financial abuses concerning the commitments we have undertaken," she said.

On the other hand, the financial director of the company Esculab, Andriy Dubivka, said that potential losses for the network due to the co-founders' conflict could be evaluated in the hundreds of millions of hryvnias, if not billions.

"Calculations of losses are currently underway. We pay official dividends according to reporting forms. Our goal is to ensure that the company remains transparent and clean," he said.

Dubivka said that during the meeting held last week, the co-founders of the company Esculab did not reach an agreement regarding the formation of the company's management body. Consequently, the Directorate, established according to the assembly's decision in October 2023, remains the legitimate authority at present.

"At the meeting, the participants did not reach any agreement because Serhiy Diadiushko's position was clear: the specified Directorate is capable of continuing to fulfill its responsibilities," he said.

On the other hand, Serhiy Diadiushko, the co-founder of the Esculab network, said that the conflict between co-founders arose in 2023 when co-founders Stanislav Luhovsky and Denys Melnyk attempted to transfer Diadiushko's share to themselves and exclude him from the network's participants. Additionally, according to Diadiushko, his business partners did not support the activities of the Esculab charitable foundation, which he established. The foundation is involved in providing military personnel with food, medicine, and medical supplies.

"According to the version of the company's charter adopted in October 2023, each participant in the enterprise has a representative in the Directorate. Thus, from my side, there is one representative, while my opponents have two," he said.

As reported, the Esculab group, which manages the Esculab network of medical laboratories (including First Social Medical Laboratory Esculab and Esculab Center LLC), warned of the risks of network shutdown due to an attempted illegal seizure by two co-founders, Stanislav Luhovsky and Denys Melnyk. These co-founders, through their representatives in management, blocked Esculab's financial operations. In response, Diadiushko turned to law enforcement agencies.

In turn, Melnyk told Interfax-Ukraine that both he and Luhovsky are "disengaging from any management or influence on the company." Their access to workspaces has been blocked for several months, while Diadiushko "consciously conceals the financial and economic situation."

Meanwhile, Diadiushko's legal representative, attorney Yuriy Petrovsky, reported that the company's participants are not deprived of the right to manage it. This assertion is confirmed by the general meeting of enterprise participants convened by Luhovsky on April 12, 2024. Additionally, according to Melnyk's statement, another meeting of Esculab participants is scheduled for April 19, 2024.

He further explained that regarding the operational management of the company's production processes, two participants carry out such management through their delegated representatives in the Directorate: Roman Vysotsky, the commercial director, and Andriy Dubivka, the financial director. Currently, it is specifically due to Vysotsky that the operational activities of the enterprise are blocked.

Esculab, a medical laboratory, ranks among the top three largest private laboratories in Ukraine. It is contracted by the National Health Service of Ukraine. The network comprises five laboratory centers and 180 sample collection points in the western regions of Ukraine and the city of Kyiv.