Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1510271
Companies hit with €40 million claim from subsidiary of sanctioned Russian bank 3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 OCTOBER 2023 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 That decision effectively re- sulted in the expulsion of the largest single shareholder in Fortenova - Alketbi held a 43% stake in the group, but now does not have the right to vote, nor can he participate in the work of the assembly of hold- ers of co-ownership rights in Fortenova. Alketbi claims to have pur- chased SBK ART LLC from the sanctions-hit Sberbank for €400 million in October 2022. However, Fortenova is chal- lenging the legitimacy of that transaction, as at the time SBK ART had already been placed on the European Union Coun- cil's list of sanctioned entities. On 21 July 2022, the EU re- leased its seventh package of sanctions in response to Rus- sia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. SBK ART does not feature on this list, but Sber- bank, of which it is a subsidi- ary, does. Fortenova says that when Sberbank's planned divest- ment of Russian ownership was not completed within the deadline set by the sanction measures, the bank had uni- laterally divested itself of its ownership share, without the knowledge of the company and other co-owners. The purported acquisition of SBK ART, however, appears to be an attempt to breach the sanctions regime in force in the European Union and the UK. According to an updated list issued by the Council of the European Union in December 2022, SBK ART LLC had been established as a subsidiary of Sberbank for the purpose of holding Sberbank's interests in the Fortenova group. "Sber- bank retains effective control over SBK ART LLC notwith- standing the purported trans- fer of its shares to a busi- nessman in the United Arab Emirates." Around the same time, Cro- atia's Foreign and European Affairs Ministry State Secre- tary Frano Matusic had told journalists last December that "all our evidence indicates that it is a fictitious transaction, no money was paid from the Unit- ed Arab Emirates to Moscow or to the accounts." Later that month, a Dutch court had ruled that SBK could not exercise its voting rights while under sanctions. Legal tussle comes to Malta The dispute was extended to Malta in August this year, when a representative of SBK ART LLC filed a court case and a €40,000,000 garnishee order against companies and officers of the Fortenova group. In the sworn application to the First Hall of the Civil Court, Russian citizen Mikhail Mokhovikov, in his capacity as special mandatary for Rus- sian-registered SBK ART LLC, accused Malta-registered com- panies Open Pass Limited and Gain Alliance Limited, as well as Fortenova Group STAK Stichting - a foundation regis- tered in the Netherlands - and its de facto Croatian director Fabris Perusko, together with Vladimir Tunjic - a Malta res- ident and the sole director of Open Pass, Croatian citizens Damir Spudic - the director and a shareholder of Gain Al- liance Limited, Pavao Vujno- vac- the majority shareholder of Gain Alliance Limited and shareholder Josip Jurcevic, of abusing their position, "in an effort to force such corporate changes and seize control over Fortenova STAK." The first sitting in the case is scheduled to take place next month. Lawyers John Refalo and Ga- brielle Scicluna are represent- ing Mokhovikov and SBK ART.