Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal stayed the proceedings in the case of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers appealing its liability for the debt owed to the Russian Defense Ministry by the UESU pending information on the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU)’s investigation of a criminal case involving the same subject matter. The UNIAN reported that the decision was announced by the presiding judge Viktor Shapran at the hearing held on October 22. The stay of proceedings came after the Cabinet had sent request to that end, received by the court on October 19.
According to the Cabinet’s representative Andrii Bohdan, the SSU’s Investigation Department is currently investigating a criminal case that has the same subject matter as the lawsuit in the commercial case the court was considering. Bohdan told the court that comprehensive consideration of the case at hand called for information from the SSU on the progress of the criminal case, and Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal should stay the proceedings in the former case pending clarification of all circumstances. Announcing the court’s decision on the request, Shapran said: “Be it ordered: 1. Send the commercial case file to the Security Service of Ukraine. 2. Stay the appeal proceedings in the case.” The judge noted that the decision could be appealed to the Supreme Commercial Court. In his comments to the press, Bohdan stated that a copy of the business case file will be added to the file of the criminal case which is now being investigated by the SSU. “The appeal proceedings are stayed for a time being pending clarification of all circumstances of the criminal case,” he said.
Representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry declined to comment. Let us recall that Kyiv Commercial Court granted the Russians’ petition regarding the UESU debt on September 19. The court ordered the Cabinet to repay to the Russian Defense Ministry 3.1 billion hryvnias. Even before the court’s decision, the SSU launched a criminal case against the former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko charging her with involvement in corporate fraud when she had served as the UESU’s top manager. The State Prosecution Service has sued Tymoshenko claiming 19.5 million hryvnias in damages in the UESU case.
