The Cabinet of Ministers has authorized the Ministry of Justice to purchase legal services to protect the rights and interests of Ukraine regarding the claims of Black Iron Inc, JKX Oil & Gas Plc, SI Group Consort Ltd and CPI Investment Fund Ltd.

According to Cabinet decree No. 483-r of May 18, the services will be procured using the negotiating procedure.

The resolution mentions a total of 17 lawsuits, in 14 of which Ukraine is a defendant.

The Cabinet had previously promulgated similar orders on selecting law firms, however they did not mention the claims of Black Iron Inc, JKX Oil & Gas Plc and SI Group Consort ltd.

The resolution states that the JKX case is in fact two cases, in one of which the claimants are also Poltava Gas and JP Poltava Petroleum Company. In addition, the two companies have filed a separate lawsuit against Ukraine.

According to the Justice Ministry, in 2014 it tried to resolve the dispute with Black Iron Inc and CPI Investment Fund out of court. The ministry said that CPI Investment Fund had three claims - in the case with Chemex Ltd and in connection with VAT non-refunds and non-receipt of dividends by coke enterprise Tar Alliance LLC (Horlivka, Donetsk region, deals with coal tar processing).