Ukraine continues to prevent the legitimate shareholders of Motor Sich from disposing of their property. Shareholders of the company might cover the courts with a series of claims. The first proceedings were held on Monday, October 26. It was on the motion to lift the arrest from the shares of JSC Motor Sich and lasted for about 5 minutes. The matter is that the scandalous story of the arrest of shares of the company caused a broad resonance. Therefore the lawyers representing two shareholders today asked the judges to allow online broadcast on the Internet. The judges asked the prosecutor’s opinion on this matter. The prosecutor did not object. All three judges agreed (it was noticeable even before the verdict was announced as the three nodded heads in agreement). Then, Judge Fritsch stated that the motion was accepted. However, the organization of the online broadcast needs to be technically prepared. Therefore, the meeting is postponed to November 11. Journalists watched what was happening in the courtroom through a video monitor located in the corridor as only the participants in the process were allowed to be in the courtroom due to the quarantine regimen.
The shareholders’ lawyers commented to journalists after the first proceedings.
‘If the arrests on the Motor Sich shares were imposed for the sake of protecting technical secrets, the proceedings would be held behind closed doors,’ said Taras Kisly, the lawyer. ‘But as you could hear, not only the judges but the prosecutor as well did not object to the online broadcast.’
The lawyer also recalled that the criminal case in relation to which four (!) arrests were already imposed on the same shares, was opened more than three years ago.
‘No one has been charged during this time. It means that the case has no prospects. It will never be brought to court,’ said Aleksandr Maksimenko, the lawyer. ‘I think the story with the arrest of the shares of Motor Sich is a political game of some government officials, which led to the fact that the economic indicators of the enterprise are getting worse and qualified specialists are forced to quit the company. The rights of shareholders were violated, but the shares were purchased under the law. There is no way to convene the meeting of shareholders, appoint new effective managers, and improve the work of the enterprise.
The lawyer also noted that online broadcasts of court hearings will allow everyone to see how our state cares about investors and how legally purchased shares can be arrested for an indefinite period, and also added that the company’s shareholders, whom he and his colleagues represented today, are not the only ones on the list, meaning that more claims will be made.
Aleksei Zadoenko, the lawyer, told reporters that additional evidence of the illegality of the arrest of Motor Sich shares will be presented during the trial.
Let us recall that ‘FACTY’ reported that two proceedings on motions to remove arrests from shares of JSC Motor Sich started at the same time in Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv city on October 21. An interesting fact: the time for the beginning of both trials was set with a difference of 5 minutes – the first at 4:45 pm, and the second at 4:50 pm, and they were held by the same judge. And he made it! More details.
