KYIV. October 1. UNN. The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine sent a letter to the representatives of the Chinese shareholders of PJSC Motor Sich confirming they have received notification of the start of an investment dispute with Ukraine in the amount of 3.5 billion. Currently, the preparatory work for a meeting of an interdepartmental working group to negotiate settlement of Chinese investors’ claims on the illegal expropriation of their investments by Ukraine, which has a judicial perspective in international arbitration, has started. It was announced by a source in the Ministry of Justice.
‘On September 7, 2020, the Ministry of Justice received a message from Chinese citizens – owners of shares of PJSC Motor Sich on the alleged violation by Ukraine of the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments dated May 30, 1993,’ stated in the letter from the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine dated September 29, 2020.
As it is known, a group of Chinese investors of PJSC Motor Sich officially notified the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice on the preparation of a claim for international arbitration against the state of Ukraine on September 4, 2020. Chinese investors regard the actions of the Ukrainian authorities to block access to the enterprise of its foreign shareholders and seize shares as an attempt to expropriate investments. In a notification to the Ministry of Justice of their intention to start an international arbitration process, they offer the Ukrainian authorities to settle the situation at the negotiating table within the framework of an interdepartmental working group with the participation of all interested parties, including investors and shareholders of PJSC Motor Sich.
Among the state authorities involved, the media named the SSU, the GPU, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, the government and the Office of the President, as well as the Ministry of Strategic Industries, the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine, etc.
‘The Ministry of Justice sent requests for information, materials, conclusions, and proposals on the settlement of the dispute, as well as a request for candidates for the formation of the interdepartmental working group, to the interested state authorities. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is being informed on the progress and results of pre-trial settlement regularly. After receiving responses to inquiries from interested bodies, the Ministry of Justice will immediately hold a meeting of the interdepartmental working group. An official invitation to the meeting of the interdepartmental working group will also be sent to a representative of investors,’ stated in the letter from the Ministry of Justice.
Earlier, leading Ukrainian and foreign experts expressed confidence that the Chinese investors of PJSC Motor Sich have a solid point to win international arbitration and the subsequent recovery of damages from Ukraine for $3.5 billion on this basis.
In particular, Robert A. McConnell, the well-known American political functionary, said in his column for the influential English-language newspaper in Ukraine KyivPost that he could not find violations of the law in the purchase of Motor Sich shares by Chinese investors.
And President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi spoke in favour of deepening political, cultural, and economic Ukrainian-Chinese cooperation in an interview with Xinhua, the Chinese news agency. With that in mind, as President Zelenskyi said, a meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission is now being prepared. Also, he expressed hope for a meeting with the Head of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping at the summit. ‘Ukraine has significant potential for cooperation with China in various fields, comparable or even greater than that of many other Eastern European countries. We are interested in the successful realization of this potential... I will be glad to welcome the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping to Ukraine. It would be a great honour for me to visit magical China,’ the President of Ukraine told Xinhua.
