PRESS RELEASE: High commercial court legalizes raiding seizure of the shopping mall "Ukraina"
Kyiv, 18 May 2012. Yesterday evening the High Commercial Court of Ukraine confirmed the validity of the decisions of the previous instances concerning the recovery of USD 45,2 million from the shopping mall "Ukraina" in favor of the off-shore company Lyndhurst Development Trading S.A. The majority shareholder – a Swedish company Quinn Holdings Sweden AB – views the decision as the continuation of the raiding seizure of the company.
"The takeover of property rights for the shopping mall "Ukraina", which the raiders are successfully trying to legalize through the relevant court decisions, is becoming a model example of a farce taking place in the commercial courts. We have tried on numerous occasions to bring to the attention of the judges the facts, which incontrovertibly prove the falseness of Lyndhurst Development Trading S.A. claims against the shopping mall. Moreover, we have presented the decision of the Northern Irish court which declared these agreements of cession null and void. Yet our declarations fell on deaf ears. It is obvious, that the judges of the High Commercial Court of Ukraine were overtly inclined to make the decision in favor of the raiders, thus they ignored all of our arguments, turning the case of the shopping mall "Ukraina" into the theatre of absurd of the Ukrainian judiciary", commented on the situation the representative of the law firm Magisters Arsen Milyutin.
According to the lawyers, the numerous violations of the norms of the material and procedural law have a long history in the case of the shopping mall "Ukraina" case. The courts, for example, have denied the acting director of the mall Rostislav Levinzon the opportunity to take part in the proceedings, while allowing the participation in the proceedings to the dismissed management, and in the case of the hearings in the court of appeals the judges have opened the proceedings without even informing the claimant, Lyndhurst Development Trading S.A. In essence, the lawyers had to fight not the claimant, but the judicial system.
The lawyers report analogous violations in the High Commercial Court of Ukraine (HCCU). One of the hearings took place outside the court’s working hours and lasted until almost 9 pm. HCCU judges, similarly to the courts of lower instances, ignored the decisions of the general meeting of shareholders on the removal of Yanez Puga from the post of the director and the cancellation of all powers of attorney issued by her and unlawfully endorsed her as the mall’s legitimate director. The appeal of the acting director Rostislav Levinzon was also left without consideration.
"We have seen many times in the past how promptly a biased court can react to the decisions of the Univermag’s shareholders, giving "green light" to the raiding seizure of the company. The latest, already the ninths attempt to register the changes in the management of the company, adopted by the last general meeting of shareholders on 16 May of the current year, was not an exception. As before, immediately after the general meeting, the Kyiv City Commercial Court issued an injunction prohibiting the state registrars from registering Rostislav Levinzon as the acting director of the shopping mall", stated Arsen Milyutin.
IBRC (Irish Bank Resolution Corporation) is a financial institution that is fully owned by the Republic of Ireland and thus, indirectly, by all Irish taxpayers. Prior to a name change on Oct. 14, 2011, IBRC was known as the Anglo Irish Bank Corporation Limited. Founded in 1964 in Dublin, the company continues to have its headquarters there today, with offices in other cities in Ireland and Great Britain. At the moment, the Bank is being forced to actively assert its rights and lawful interests in the suits that have been initiated very recently in the Commercial Court of the City of Kyiv with the purpose of removing encumbrances on assets that have been placed under lien in the Bank’s favor.
Quinn Holdings Sweden AB was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Stockholm. Quinn Holdings Sweden AB (QHS) is the majority shareholder of PAT Univermag Ukraine, a publicly held company in Kyiv, Ukraine. Currently QHS holds nearly 93% of the company’s stock.
For additional information, contact:
Oleksiy Syvak, Senior Advisor, CFC Consulting +38 (044) 492-75-99 or os@cfc.com.ua
The press release has been issued on commercial terms. The Interfax-Ukraine News Agency is not responsible for its contents.