Court decision on succession of Donetsk Railways’ debts threatens national security – Ukrzaliznytsia

JSC Ukrzaliznytsia has said that the decision of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court on the succession of the debts of state-owned enterprises of the railway industry, in particular SOE Donetsk Railway, by Ukrzaliznytsia threatens national security and the economy of Ukraine, the company said on its website in a statement.

Ukrzaliznytsia has already appealed to the President, the Prime Minister, the Verkhovna Rada and other government bodies with a request to take all possible measures to protect the rights and interests of society and the state.

By decision of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, Ukrzaliznytsia was recognized as the legal successor, in particular, of SOE Donetsk Railways since October 21, 2015.

"Such a position of the court, at least, puts counterparties of enterprises and institutions of railway transport, including those located in the temporarily occupied territory and territory of the anti-terrorist operation, the succession of obligations of which, according to the position of the Supreme Court, came to Ukrzaliznytsia, in more favorable conditions in lawsuits," the company said.

According to Ukrzaliznytsia, from now on it will be deprived of the opportunity to reasonably object or provide evidence to refute the claims of such companies due to the absence of any primary documents from the company, since all information and documents with the start of the anti-terrorist operation remained in the structural units in the occupied territories.

"Moreover, such a decision of the Supreme Court actually means that Ukrzaliznytsia will be obliged to pay off all the debts of Donetsk Railways without receiving any property from the latter in the charter capital," the company said.

According to the Ukrzaliznytsia, now in the territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions temporarily beyond the control of Ukraine there are more than 20,000 Ukrzaliznytsia's freight cars, almost 6,000 cars of other owners, almost 6,000 passenger cars and more than 300 locomotives.

"Of particular note is the fact that, according to rough estimates, the amount of financial obligations of Donetsk Railways to creditors exceeds UAH 6.5 billion, including enterprises owned by the entities which are residents of the Russian Federation, in particular, Sberbank in the amount of UAH 3.5 billion, VTB Bank in the amount of UAH 1.2 billion, and others," the company said.

Ukrzaliznytsia said that such a decision jeopardizes the financial condition and stability of the company's functioning, since paying off such a large amount of debt without actually obtaining assets of Donetsk Railways could destabilize the payment situation of the company, which is already complicated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company asked the president and public authorities to intervene in this situation and take all possible measures to protect the rights and interests of Ukrzaliznytsia and prevent unjust and unlawful recovery, in particular by initiating appropriate legislative changes.

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua