Gennady Korban
Citrus is suing Korban, claiming he "obtained a stake in the company's legal entity through covert means." The company insists Korban will have no influence on the company's operations, writes Ukrrudprom.
Yesterday, MC.today reported that businessman and politician Gennady Korban acquired 50% of ZT-Invest LLC, which owns Citrus.
According to Ukrpatent, ZT-Invest LLC is the registered owner of the Citrus chain's trademarks and logos. Korban thus took over the business from Dmytro Zinchenko, who had a dispute with his business partner, Grigory Topal, in June of last year. The co-ownership information changed on February 25.
The company's press service stated that Korban secretly acquired 50% of ZT-Invest alone. Citrus has already filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of this acquisition.
ZT-Invest owns only a portion of the company’s secondary assets, which do not affect either the company’s operational activities or its current assets.
Citrus noted that the acquisition of 50% of one of the companies, where one of the founders is the owner of the Citrus group, Grigory Iordanovich Topal, cannot affect the company's operations.
“The acquisition of 50% of a company does not allow for unilateral changes or decisions to be made at the enterprise without the consent of the other party,” Citrus clarified.
In an interview with LigaBusinessInform, Korban explained why he needed Citrus and what would happen to the chain.
— Is it true that you bought 50% of ZT-INVEST?
— True. There is an excerpt from the register.
— Why do you need a share in Citrus?
— To develop the company. I'm acting as an investor here. I bought the parent company, which owns the brand and will be responsible for the bulk of the company's revenue and equipment supply. I own a number of stores that Citrus leases for its retail operations.
We will soon transfer the company's legal address from Odessa to Dnipro.
— What do you estimate is Citrus’ share in Ukraine?
— At least 45%. In gadgets. Citrus doesn't compete with Comfy and other chains that also sell household appliances.
— How long have you been thinking about buying it?
"Negotiations with partners had been ongoing since the summer. When the conflict broke out, they were looking for a third party to buy out the stake. They offered me the opportunity as an investor."
I'm interested in retail. I have a chain business. It's related to medical supplies. We have both management and experience. We came in as investors.
— What changes are you planning in Citrus’s operations?
"We want to streamline the company. It's split into six to eight companies, very fragmented. The partners had previously operated in a less-than-transparent manner. One company took out loans, another brought in equipment as collateral and returned it. A third handled rentals, a fourth owned the trademark, and so on. It needs to become more transparent."
I bought the main companies that held the trademark and the trading itself. We plan to operate this business and expand the network.
— Will your opinion be key in decision making?
"I hope so. We'll see. At any rate, we have a lot of experience, and I hope our partners will listen. It's corporate culture, after all. You know what it's like in our country; it's sometimes lacking."
— What are your plans for market share?
"The company doesn't have many competitors in the market. There's the Allo chain and a few others. We'll compete and expand. We'll strengthen both offline and online. We've already started building a new online platform with one of our partners, Zinchenko."
Subscribe to our channels in Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, VC — Only new faces from the section CRYPT!