"Levochkin's Kidok" The plant is being squeezed out of Firtash
The Economic Court of the Zaporozhye region terminated the agreement on the transfer of a stake in the Zaporozhye titanium-magnesium plant to the ownership of Tolexis Trading Limited (DF Group of companies), the offshore company of the oligarch Dmitry Firtash.
The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office reported this on its Facebook page, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
This court already made such a decision three years ago, but then the Supreme Court partially upheld the cassation appeal of the oligarch’s company and sent the case for a new trial.
SAP's arguments are as follows. Tolexis Trading Limited received the plant's property complex in 2013 based on the results of a competition by the State Property Fund of Ukraine. The company established ZTMC LLC, where the state owned 51% of acacias, and the agreement provided for the investment of $110 million in modernization of production in 2013-2015.
These funds were indeed invested, but were spent mainly not on modernization, but on repaying previously created debts of the state-owned enterprise ZTMC for energy resources and to creditors associated with DF Group. The decision on this was made by the management, which was set by the investor. Subsequently, these funds were withdrawn from Ukraine, transferred to the accounts of offshore companies, and only 20 million hryvnia were allocated for the main purpose of creating the enterprise - modernization of production.
It is alleged that it was the misuse of investments that became the reason for the return of the plant to state ownership.
Firtash denies the charges and intends to continue to fight for the plant.
“This decision was made by the Economic Court of the Zaporozhye region - the court of first instance. According to the law, the decision of this court comes into force only if it is not appealed within the period allotted by law. Of course, we consider this decision to be biased and unfair and will appeal it,” said Tolexis Trading Limited lawyer Roman Chishinsky.
Lawyer Tatyana Montyan believes that Firtash’s “comrade-in-arms” Sergei Levochkin is behind what is happening.
“As they say, rob your neighbor before he robs you. Lyovochkin is fully affiliated with the collective Kolomoisky and with the green-lovers. Lyovochkin is abandoning all his former friends and partners, they have been talking about this for a long time,” the lawyer noted.
The same fate, according to her, will befall Firtash’s other assets.
“In Ukraine, everything will be squeezed out. Let's see if the Americans will put the finishing touches on the Austrians and extradite Firtash to the United States. There are always not enough gingerbreads for everyone; after devouring their enemies, they begin to eat their friends. They crushed Medvedchuk - it’s time to crush each other. Bon appetit to them. Delicious, as they say!” Montyan said.
“Firtash was loyal to any government, but if we talk about contracts and the participation of shareholders, this concerned the previous government. The essence of what is happening is that other people are vying for resources. And these people believe that they can take away everything they like. This is Zelensky and this whole gop company around him and Akhmetov who joined them, or rather, the group that is identified with him - it is clear that Akhmetov himself is not involved in all this, although he gives the go-ahead for all this. For Zelensky, Firtash was never one of his own, although, of course, he was loyal to him.
But here, as they say, “your only fault is that I want to eat.” Just as in the case of Medvedchuk, who was pressed not because he is a “Kremlin agent”, a “fifth column” and so on. It’s just that the resources of the oligarchs are causing the authorities to hang around. That's why they are taken away. And the same can happen with anyone, with the same Akhmetov or Kolomoisky, regardless of who demonstrates loyalty. The problem is that there is little of everything, but there is a lot of everyone. It was under Kuchma that it was possible to give something to everyone, not to forget oneself, and there was still something left. And now the resource base inherited from the USSR has been stolen. Therefore, we have to take from each other.
Therefore, they will continue to take away metallurgical assets, financial companies, and land,” Sergei Belashko, director of the Social Communications Agency, commented on what was happening to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
English version :: Read "Levochkin's Scam" in English. The plant is being wrested from Firtash.