There were many corporate raids—both successful and unsuccessful—in 2015. Although fewer than in 2013 and far fewer than in the "turbulent 90s," we'll rank them from first to fifth.
"Are you going to drink coffee?"
First place: UkrnaftaNot because this story has spawned countless jokes and internet memes, including the one about coffee. But because it was the most lucrative corporate raid of 2015. After the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted amendments to the law on joint-stock companies on March 19, 2015, allowing shareholders to hold meetings with a quorum of 50% plus one vote, it became more difficult for billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky to control Ukrnafta, in which the state owns 50% plus one share, and only about 40% belongs to the Dnipropetrovsk businessman and former governor.
The state treasury was interested in billions in dividends, while Kolomoisky was interested in control of Ukrnafta. The story hasn't really ended yet. But overall, it can be said that Igor Valerievich has lost his former influence at Ukrnafta.
Some notable incidents included the use of special equipment, the fencing of Ukrnafta's office building, and the use of young MPs in the clashes. A special law was even passed to counter the brazen minority shareholders who effectively controlled the company.
"Who will remain in the shop?"
Second place: Amstor. A fairly large national grocery retail chain is a coveted prize. A fight for it erupted between the billionaire and Rinat Akhmetov's business partner, Vadim Novinsky (owner of Smart Holding), on the one hand, and Vladimir Vagorovsky, one of the chain's former top managers, on the other.
The conflict erupted according to all the rules of military art – on New Year's Eve, or more precisely, on December 31, 2014, a team of armed men blocked the operations of approximately 30 Amstor stores in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Mariupol, and several other cities. But this time, the police demonstrated miraculous efficiency: teams arrived at the scene and restored order, including the stores' operations. The restoration of the chain's operations took a long time and was not without problems, as the corporate conflict occurred during a period of sharp decline in the hryvnia and a decline in purchasing power.
Special episodes: an attack on a company's IT system, the use of ATO conditions to "squeeze" part of the assets.
Greetings from the 90s
Third place: Ukrainian National Lottery (UNL). The company, a major lottery operator, was subjected to a corporate raid by individuals masquerading as foreign companies. The raiders used an old scheme, well-known in Ukraine since the mid-2000s: Pirsum Services Limited, the legal owner of UNL, was stripped of its corporate rights in UNL by a default judgment of the Korolev District Court of Zhytomyr. It later emerged that Swiss citizen Peter Rudolf Schetty had falsified several documents, which he used to later register UNL's corporate rights in his own name.
Shetty, however, is unwilling to travel to Ukraine and prove his case in court. His lawyers and local representatives, who are terrified of publicity, are working on his behalf. This is especially true after law enforcement agencies became interested in their activities, as well as those of the "European investor from Switzerland." By early December, a criminal case had already been opened, and an investigation is underway. A certain Sarkees Ramez Khalil, believed to be the organizer of the raid, is also implicated in this case.
Time will tell how the criminal case will end. However, the ruling in absentia by the Korolevskiy District Court of Zhytomyr, which served as the basis for the attempted seizure of corporate rights, has already been overturned. To achieve this, the legal owner of UNL was forced to present documents confirming its rights to the lottery to the court for review in open court. Mr. Shetty's representatives, naturally, did not appear in court—they simply have no evidence in favor of the "foreign investor from Switzerland."
Special episodes: use of the “foreign investor” status as a cover, use of substitution of entries in registers.
Sweet Revenge
Fourth place: "Zhytomyr Lasoshchi". In late November 2015, Ihor Boyko, the self-proclaimed owner of the Zhytomyr Confectionery Factory (Zhytomyrski Lasoshchi), made a sensational statement accusing MP Serhiy Pashynskyi (People's Front) and his partner, businessman Serhiy Tyshchenko, of plotting a hostile takeover of the factory. According to local media reports, Boyko claimed that on November 27, it was announced that ODO ZL had been removed from the Unified State Register of Enterprises. A new company, with a new name and a new director, had appeared in its place as the owner of the Zhytomyr Confectionery Factory's property complex.
It all looked as if the raider schemes of fifteen years ago were being revived: the substitution of data in registers, false documents about the change of company officials, legalized through a chain of court decisions and property transactions.
Several high-profile protests followed, including in the national press. Yuriy Leshchinsky, co-owner of the Zhitomirski Lasoshchi factory, claimed that the real owners were local, and accused Boyko himself of corporate raiding: "As owners of the investor company Delta Capital SA, which legally owns 95,07% of the shares in the said factory, we maintain that Igor Boyko is the corporate raider, having illegally seized our property. We demand that the Ukrainian authorities ensure a lawful and fair review of our case and facilitate the restoration of the foreign investor's rights."
Here's how Leshchinsky explains what happened: "As it later turned out, we were misinformed. While we were trying to use the media and public activists to fight the aforementioned deputy, who allegedly seized our property, the real raider—Igor Boyko, the former representative of Delta Capital SA in Ukraine—merged the closed joint-stock company with his own shell company and became the owner of 97% of the shares of the newly created LLC ZhL. So, there's still a lot of interesting things to come around the Zhytomyr Confectionery Factory. Incidentally, raiding attempts there have been going on since 2010. But the current story is perhaps one of the most high-profile ones associated with this enterprise.
Special episodes: the involvement of well-known politicians in the confrontation, the use of substitution of entries in the registers.
Self-defense on call
Fifth place: Trostyanets elevator DP "Suntrade" (Bunge). The elevator belongs to Suntrade, which is the Ukrainian subsidiary of one of the world's largest grain traders, Bunge. As it turns out, even a reputable name doesn't protect against corporate raiding attempts. The grain storage facility has belonged to Suntrade since 2010. It would seem that all the disputes should have died down over the past five years. Over the past five years, the company has invested over $2 million in the facility. And yet, in early January 2015, masked men claiming to be members of the Samooborona (Self-Defense) group attempted to enter the facility. Clearly, it wasn't the Samooborona group—where would they have come from in January 2015?
According to industry publications, the "group of comrades" was led by a certain Alexander Krukovsky, who headed the Trostyanetsky grain elevator until 2003. With the intervention of the police, the outsiders eventually left the premises. However, a scuffle ensued. One of the elevator employees was injured and taken to the hospital. There were also reports of pyrotechnics being used during the confrontation between the parties. Those familiar with the conflict claim that the elevator owners were greatly aided by their status as a major foreign investor and the blatant incompetence of the attackers. Otherwise, things would not have ended so well.
Special episodes: the use of illegal armed groups.
Ruslan Yakushev, Antikor
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