Oschadbank, without waiting for a court decision, is attempting to gain control of the Slavyansk Oil and Fat Plant and intends to transfer the enterprise to an unknown company.
On April 21, 2016, Lauffer Group held a press conference at the Interfax news agency , discussing Oschadbank's illegal actions against the Slavyansk Oil and Fat Plant. At the press conference, Lauffer Group Regional Development Director Stanislav Stepchenko spoke about the bank's violations against the plant, which belongs to Lauffer Group, and its attempts to forcibly seize the enterprise.
Specifically, the company learned that Oschadbank, under a lease agreement, intends to transfer the property to an opaque and unknown company. State-owned Oschadbank, which does not own the Slavyansk Oil and Fat Plant, designated the asset as a leasehold asset in a March 17 agreement with SFS Trade, a company founded in 2015 by Yuriy Davydov, the former chairman of the board of Creative Group PJSC. The transaction is highly opaque for several reasons. First, there is a court ruling prohibiting the alienation of the plant's assets. The ruling is available in the open registry of court decisions at https://www.reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/39049190. Second, the case is still pending in Ukrainian courts, and the matter remains unresolved. Third, an unknown, recently established company, SFS Trade, is attempting to hijack the management of one of the largest enterprises, but will be unable to manage this asset, depriving the economy of revenue, the budget of tax payments, and employees of jobs. Fourth, the lease agreement between Oschadbank and SFS Trade, dated March 17, 2016, provides for "pittance" rental payments. While the company offers to repay the bank the actual amount of the debt under the terms of a restructuring, the bank has categorically refused to restructure the loan and opted for 700 hryvnias in monthly rental payments. It would take the bank more than 70 years to recoup the debt through the lease under this agreement. The company, however, proposed eight viable restructuring scenarios, the duration of which was measured in years, which is traditional for banking practice, but not in decades.
Attempts to unjustifiably appropriate the plant have already been made.
On Monday, April 18, 2016, representatives of Oschadbank attempted to enter the Slavyansk Oil and Fat Plant again. Several cars carrying armed men pulled up to the plant's gates. Without giving their names, IDs, or bailiff service documents, the bank representatives demanded that the gates be opened and let in, making baseless claims to the company's assets. The plant's security guards were soldiers who had previously fought in the ATO, Ukrainian officers—Ukrainians for whom the word "Motherland" is imbued with real meaning, and for whom protecting their native enterprise is a matter of honor.
Despite the plant being subject to attempted forcible takeovers, armed men attempting to enter the facility several times, and intimidation campaigns, the plant has not increased its security. The number of security personnel remains unchanged. Moreover, the Slavyansk Oil and Fat Plant remains an open and transparent company, ready to provide tours to anyone interested: demonstrations of the plant's grounds, internal operations, informal meetings with engineers or technologists, and information on any aspect of the operation.
This isn't the first time the company has had to fight off an attack. For some time now, employees have been noticing cars with unknown license plates, carrying individuals in camouflage and civilian clothes. The unknown individuals are inspecting the area, taking photographs, and possibly filming. Financial and legal pressure is also being exerted. Management has been receiving threats. For several months, the company's management has been receiving harassing phone calls demanding that they resign their positions and cooperate with the bank.
On April 18, thanks to the coordinated actions of the plant's management, security, and employees, it was possible to resist an attack on the enterprise.
LAUFFER GROUP – THE LEGAL OWNER
Court decisions confirm that the ownership of the Slavyansk Plant's property belongs to Lauffer Group. Specifically, according to the ruling of the Kyiv District Court of Donetsk dated May 26, 2014, the Slavyansk Plant's property is not subject to any pledge or mortgage, and therefore cannot be foreclosed upon. This ruling also requires the removal of any obstacles to Lauffer Group's exercise of ownership rights to the property. The document also prohibits the alienation of real estate and the collection of funds from the enterprise.
This decision was also reviewed by all higher courts. The appellate and cassation courts found the decision to be lawful and fair.
According to Article 124 of the Constitution of Ukraine and Article 14 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, this decision is subject to execution throughout the territory of Ukraine.
The decision is available in the registry at https://www.reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/39049190.
ILLEGAL ACTIONS OF OSCHADBANK
As previously reported, over the past few months, PJSC Oschadbank has been attempting to illegally change the plant's ownership, amend its registration documents, and rig court decisions.
Thus, on December 18, 2014, the Commercial Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast made an unlawful decision in a dispute regarding the collateral for a loan from Urozhai LLC to Oschadbank PJSC, which subsequently led to the bank's attempts to seize the property of the Slavyansk Plant.
Urozhai LLC was not notified of the trial court hearings. In the appellate and cassation courts, Urozhai LLC documented the fact that the mortgage agreement, which formed the basis for the bank's claims, had been declared invalid by a court decision on May 26, 2014, and the bank's appeal and cassation courts denied the right to review this decision.
Despite the invalidity of the mortgage agreement and the concealment from the company of the fact of the trial at first instance, the Commercial Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast issued a decision satisfying the claims of PJSC Oschadbank and recognizing PJSC Oschadbank's ownership of the real estate in Slavyansk under the invalid mortgage agreement.
This decision was appealed by Urozhai TK LLC in the appellate and cassation courts. However, the courts ignored Article 35 of the Commercial Procedure Code of Ukraine, which stipulates that facts established by civil court decisions are binding on commercial courts. This means that facts established in a civil court decision are not subject to proof and are prejudicial to disputes in commercial courts. The invalidity of the mortgage agreement, confirmed by the civil court decision, should have legally determined the outcome of the dispute in favor of the company. However, the trial was not objective.
Taking advantage of the unlawful decision of the Commercial Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast dated 12/18/2014, PJSC Oschadbank registered its ownership of real estate on 10/09/2015.
However, the bank committed a number of violations during the registration process. The property ownership registration was backdated. The state registrar entered the property into the state register of real estate ownership on October 9, 2015, but listed August 13, 2015, as the ownership registration date.
The illegal actions of the state registrar are being appealed to the relevant authorities, and notifications of the crimes have been sent to law enforcement agencies.
In addition, notary Strazhnik T.A. illegally lifted the seizure of the property, which allowed the bank to re-register the ownership rights.
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