Ukrainian MP Rabinovych loses court case to Liovochkin, fined over EUR 500,000
A higher court in Nice (France) has ruled in favor of companies owned by members of the Liovochkin family against Member of Parliament of Ukraine deputy Vadym Rabinovych and ordered the latter to pay court costs and other expenses amounting to over EUR 500,000.
The court ruling, which the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency has obtained, says Rabinovych did not have the authority to act in the name of Ukraine's government and receive permission for the temporary arrest of property belonging to Liovochkin's companies in France.
The court ruled that Rabinovych did not have the authority to appeal to a foreign court in the name of Ukraine and revoked permission for the temporary arrest of real estate.
According to the court, Rabinovych is obliged to pay parliament deputy Yulia Liovochkina and two companies a total of EUR 9,000 – EUR 3,000 to each. In addition, Rabinovych will lose about EUR 400,000 which he paid for the groundless arrest of the property and fees to remove the lien on the property.
Dan Shefet, the lawyer representing Yulia Liovochkina in the dispute, told Interfax-Ukraine, "We will demand in a French court that Rabinovych pay compensation for besmirching the reputation of our clients and damages. I think there will be further cases against Rabinovych for his deliberate misuse of the French legal system."
According to Shefet, revoking a court lien on real estate is very expensive in France and the court will make Rabinovych pay the costs.
"Taking into account that he already lost around EUR 400,000 spent on registering the groundless court lien, Rabinovych's total losses as a result of this legal dispute could grown to more than EUR 500,000," Shefet said.
As earlier reported, in February 2018 Rabinovych said that a Nice-based court had arrested property belonging to parliament deputy Serhiy Liovochkin (the Opposition Bloc). Rabinovych said then that he paid a EUR 400,000 fee out of his own pocket for the court lien on the property.
According to Rabinovych's e-declaration for 2017, his income was UAH 213,000.
