Court Unfreezes Stavytsky’s Shares in Oil Company

The Economic Court of Kyiv unfroze the shares of Ares Systems and Ariana Business Limited — companies controlled by Yanukovych-era Energy Ministry Eduard Stavytsky — in Ukrnaftoburinnia [Ukr.: Ukrainian Oil Drilling] company.  The court’s decision was published in the unified registry of court decisions.

The court proceeding was initiated by Ihor Kolomoyskyi-controlled Cyprus company Deripon Commercial Limited against Stavytsky’s companies. However, neither claimant nor respondent appeared in court.

Thus, the court left the claim undecided and unfroze the shares of Stavytsky’s companies that were frozen on December 2, 2014.

Deripon Commercial Limited owned 90% of shares of Ukrnaftoburinnia before December 2012 when it sold half of them to Stavytsky-controlled companies. After Yanukovych fled Ukraine, Kolomoyskyi started a legal campaign to return his shares, asserting that he had been forced to sell them on disadvantageous conditions.

Ukrnaftoburinnia has a special permit to mine the most promising Ukrainian gas deposit Sakhalinske in Kharkivska Oblast. For more details about this story, please click here.

In November 2015, the court unfroze the business center of Stavytsky in Kyiv. The ex-Minister is reported to have fled to Israel.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda