Roshen corporate restructuring ahead of transfer into trust compliant with Ukrainian law – Baker & McKenzie

Kyiv, 31 May 2016. The corporate restructuring of Roshen that preceded placement of Petro Poroshenko’s stake in the business into trust has been effected in compliance with Ukrainian law, – according to the conclusions of international law firm Baker & McKenzie. According to Baker & McKenzie, no cash transfers abroad took place as part of the restructuring and transfer of Roshen into trust. The restructuring “did not envisage any cross-border cash transfers” – reads the Baker & McKenzie memorandum. Shares of non-Ukrainian companies were purchased “by exchanging the … Shares and the Ukrainian corporate rights”. Baker & McKenzie also concluded that no license of the National Bank of Ukraine or the Ministry of Economy was required to enable P. Poroshenko’s Fund to acquire shares in a Cypriot company and to contribute a stake in a Ukrainian company to the share capital of the Cypriot one. “No authorization, approval, license or registration of a governmental authority in Ukraine needed to be obtained to enable the Fund to enter into or perform the Cypriot Subscription Agreement”, - Baker & McKenzie concluded. The conclusions of the international law firm refute the earlier disseminated misleading information regarding the transfer of approx. EUR 4 million as a consideration for the shares in a Cypriot company by P. Poroshenko’s Fund. In response to certain mass media’s groundless allegations of violation of Ukrainian law, Petro Poroshenko’s counsels approached the independent international law firm with a request to examine the Poroshenko Fund’s transactions related to the restructuring of Roshen. Baker & McKenzie lawyers have been provided with exhaustive documents with respect to the transactions in question. Baker & McKenzie is a leading international law firm founded in 1949 in the U.S. The firm has offices in 47 countries. Baker & McKenzie was the first international law firm to open an office in Ukraine in 1992.