PRESS RELEASE: Irish court declares Rostislav Levinzon authorized executive of Ukraina shopping mall

Kyiv, 22 March 2012. The High Court of Northern Ireland, while deliberating the validity of the agreements on the basis of which the offshore company Lyndhurst allegedly received the right to demand from the Ukraina shopping mall the payment of $45 million, declared the Ukraina shopping mall as a party to the case and recognized the acting director of the mall Rostislav Levinzon as its authorized executive. This decision on the international level endorsed the lawful right of Mr. Levinzon to act as the director of the shopping mall, which was bestowed on him by a decision of the general meeting of the shareholders.

Kyiv City Commercial Court and the Kyiv Commercial Appeals Court previously rejected applications seeking to recognize Levinzon as the authorized executive of the Ukraina mall in the case filed by Lyndhurst for the recovery of the abovementioned $45 million. Instead, the Ukrainian courts declared Valeria Kozachuk, the lawyer of the dismissed director of the mall, who acted on the basis of annulled powers of attorney, as Ukraina's lawful representative.

Until now the appointed acting director of the mall, Levinzon, has not been able to enter the offices of the company and start carrying out his job. This was due to the numerous false lawsuits on behalf of Nelya Sergieva – a subordinate of the dismissed director Larysa Yanez Puga and a minority shareholder, holding one share of the company. On the basis of the claims of this minority shareholder, the judges of the Kyiv City Commercial Court Prygunova A.B., Lyubchenko M.O. and others issued injunctions that prohibited the making of amendments to the Unified State Registry of Companies and Private Entrepreneurs with accordance to the decisions adopted by the general meetings of shareholders of the mall concerning the change of management.

According to an explanation provided by the representatives of the Magisters law firm, who are protecting the rights of the Irish state-owned bank IBRC and the majority shareholder of the mall, the Swedish company Quinn Holdings Sweden AB, the abovementioned decision of the High Court of the Northern Ireland has to be closely looked at by the judges of the Kyiv City Commercial Court and the Kyiv Commercial Appeals Court, since their resolutions contradict the position of their Irish counterparts.

"We cannot explain from the point of view of rule of law the validity of the representation of the interests of the mall in the commercial courts by the unauthorized persons, who, in addition, have allowed the claim against the mall for the payment of $45 million based on a forged document. The information contained in the State Registry is a presumption, which, put differently, is meant to serve as a protection of the interest of third parties. The courts, at the same time, should declare as an executive the person, who was appointed by lawful means, and not the one who is unjustifiably listed in the registry,” commented the Magisters lawyers.

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.

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 Britain. At the moment, the bank is being forced to actively assert its rights and lawful interests in the suits that were 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.

For additional information, contact:

Oleksiy Syvak, Senior Advisor, CFC Consulting +38 (044) 492-75-99 or [email protected]

The press release has been issued on commercial terms. The Interfax-Ukraine News Agency is not responsible for its contents.