The High Court of England and Wales issued an order on 20 December to freeze the assets of the Energy Standard group owned by Kostyantyn Hryhoryshyn, LIGA.net wrote on 21 December.
The decision is a prohibitory injunction in Hryhoryshyn's arbitration proceedings with Vadym Novinsky and Volodymyr Lukyanenko, Jr. over the machine-building company Sumy NPO. The decision referred to ZTR, Turboatom, PJSC Sumy NPO, Ukrrichflot, Zaporizhia Cable Plant, and Svarog Asset Management.
In te course of the trial, Lukyanenko's lawyers convinced the court that there was a risk that Hryhoryshyn may try to dilute his assets, which may lead to the non-fulfillment of 305.8mn dollar arbitration award.
Liga.net notes that the injunction to freeze Hryhoryshyn's assets does not mean that all Ukrainian companies of the businessman automatically fell under arrest as foreign, including arbitration awards, do not have direct effect in Ukraine, unlike in the United States, Cyprus, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Panama, the Seychelles, and the Saint Vincent and Grenadines.
Sumy NPO is one of the largest in Europe manufacturers of gas pumping equipment and turn-key compressor stations, a wide range of pumps, compressors, centrifuges, equipment for chemical, gas and oil refining industries, and nuclear power plants.
The Sumy NPO has a complicated shareholder structure.
The largest stakeholder is Cyprus Stremvol Holdings, which owns 83.7% in the plant. Hryhoryshyn owns 51% of it through UMS Holding. Another 49% stake in Stremvol Holdings is owned by by Lukyanenko and Novinsky's Great Station Properties (Lukyanenko - 75%, Novinsky – 25%.
Lukyanenko has provided Smart Holding with an option to buy shares in Great Station Properties, so Novinsky can increase his stake to 40.04%. Another 13% in Sumy NPOs are controlled by Ihor and Hryhoriy Surkis.