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Karasev: ‘AMCU is Temporizing the Motor Sich’s Case, Realizing its Politicization’

 

The return of an application for the purchase of PJSC Motor Sich’s shares by a group of the Ukrainian and foreign investors by the Antimonopoly Committee is being actively discussed by the expert community.

The Press Service of the DCH group published information about it on the official website. As it is known, DCH applied for permission to concentrate shares simultaneously with its partners, Chinese investors from Skyrizon, to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine on August 4.

The economic activities of PJSC Motor Sich are now blocked due to the seizure of shares initiated by the Security Service of Ukraine in 2016 pursuant to the article ‘sabotage’. The enterprise is not being modernized, more than 30% of employees are quit, financial indicators are rapidly deteriorating. The shareholders of Motor Sich are currently put the arrest in issue since it violates their rights – the shareholders' meetings have not been convened for 3 years, there is no opportunity to take part in the management of the joint-stock company, dividends are not paid. In particular, at each hearing, their lawyers lodge a motion to summon representatives of the AMCU, the SSU, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Office of the President to court, but so far the judges systematically reject the motions, not seeing the state interests in the matter.

‘Excuses, formal replies, and temporizing without breaking the law. It is the last chance for the AMCU’s officials to avoid problems. If the arrest ‘falls apart’ in court, a criminal case of sabotage will unfold against the bodies that began this story and their patrons. That is, if the AMCU slacks, criminal cases may turn against the SSU, the arresting judges, who were also executors of the three-year blocking scheme and the collapse of Motor Sich,’ commented Vadim Karasev, the well-known political scientist, Director of the Institute for Global Strategies.

The expert considers the AMCU's attempts to motivate the return of documents by the need to analyze the situation in non-aircraft-related commodity markets, where DCH and Motor Sich conduct operations, are absurd. Thus, the officials of the Committee are interested in the fate of ordinary medical institutions working in the structure of both sides, the market share of which is negligible and under no circumstances can cause an increase in the level of economic concentration in the medical services market. In addition, the department makes a request for information on financial companies somehow related to Motor Sich and DCH, though they do not have a common product market. And, finally, the AMCU asks for information on whether the KhTZ plant, a member of the DCH group, can use non-core products manufactured by PJSC Motor Sich for its tractors as suspension equipment. ‘Could the agricultural products of PJSC Motor Sich (potato planters, potato diggers, harrows, plows, cultivators, mounted rotary mower) be used as suspended (additional) equipment for tractors manufactured by PJSC KhTZ?’ states the AMCU's request.

Vadim Karasev is sure that questions not related to the subject of the DCH’s application and the aircraft industry are being asked deliberately. The expert is convinced that the Antimonopoly Committee will run down the clock, while it can be done at least while observing the appearance of legality. ‘The AMCU cannot simply surrender and admit its mistake as it will be a ‘confession’ on behalf of participants in the scheme of seizing and blocking Motor Sich. After all, the Antimonopoly Committee is not really an independent agency... But one day both the performers and the management will have to answer for sabotage and treason. They will be caught up in the end. Not for far-fetched cases on the line of the SSU though, but for the real collapse of Motor Sich and the loss of Ukraine's entire aircraft industry!’ the expert predicts.

Earlier, when considering the case on lifting the arrest from Motor Sich’s shares in the Kyiv Court of Appeal, the lawyers of the shareholder companies stated that the blocking of the enterprise was politically motivated and qualified the actions of the authorities as state raiding. Experts are sure that the Antimonopoly Committee's freezing of the deal on the purchase of Motor Sich shares by Chinese and Ukrainian investors is part of a scheme to destroy the plant for corruption purposes, in which both the plant's management and the previous government and, possibly, some of the representatives of the current government team are involved.