10:25 09.01.2018

SCM to contest Cyprus court ruling to freeze $820 mln of Akhmetov's assets

2 min read
SCM to contest Cyprus court ruling to freeze $820 mln of Akhmetov's assets

SCM, a company belonging to Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov, has said that they will appeal against a Cyprus court's ruling to freeze Akhmetov's assets worth $820 million, the SCM said in a statement.

"A company of SCM group indirectly acquired shares in PJSC Ukrtelecom from Raga Establishment Limited (formerly - EPIC Telecom Invest Limited) in 2013—two years after privatization of Ukrtelecom. We have now indeed received information about interim order of the court in Cyprus concerning, among others, several entities of SCM Group and issued pursuant to an application from Raga Establishment Limited. We disagree with the order in its entirety and will contest it. The entities of SCM group will also vigorously defend themselves against baseless claims by Raga Establishment Limited that gave rise to issuance of the interim order," the group said in its statement.

The company said that SCM group did not directly or indirectly participate in privatization of Ukrtelecom in 2011.

"As we stated on multiple occasions, the current allegations by the State Property Fund of Ukraine and other governmental bodies of Ukraine regarding unlawfulness of privatization of Ukrtelecom and non-performance of investment obligations all stem from the activities of Raga Establishment Limited and its real beneficial owners, as well as persons who funded the privatization in 2011," the company said in a statement.

As reported, a Cyprus court has ordered the freezing of $820.5 million of the assets of Akhmetov at the request of Raga Establishment, owned by the former head of the bankrupt Rodovid Bank, Denys Horbunenko, which accuses Akhmetov's SCM Financial Overseas (SCM FO) of underpayment for the purchase of Ukraine's fixed-line telecoms group Ukrtelecom, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

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