Supreme Court refuses Ostchem implementation of Stockholm arbitration decision on Odesa port-side plant’s debt of over $300 mln – SPF head

The Supreme Court has upheld the appeal of PJSC Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant and the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) and refused Dmytro Firtash's Ostchem Holding Limited the implementation of the decision of the Stockholm arbitration court to recover over $ 300 million from Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant for gas supplies, SPF Head Dmytro Sennychenko has said.

"This is a final decision that is not subject to appeal. That's it. In short, now Ostchem will not be able to obtain a forced recovery of $ 250 million of debt from Odesa port-side plant, and even more so – to claim the entire enterprise," he said in a blitz interview to the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

Sennychenko clarified that Ostchem's claims on the principal debt amounted to $ 193 million, another $ 57 million in penalties, and $ 67.7 million in accrued interest.

"I believe that this court verdict is a clear proof of the effectiveness of our work," the head of the fund emphasized.

According to him, Ostchem's filing claims in other countries is theoretically possible, but in practice it is meaningless.

"It is possible to seek debt collection by arbitration in those countries where the property of the enterprise or its branches are located. The assets of the plant are concentrated in Ukraine and are now protected from such a scenario," he explained.

Sennychenko noted that this is a very important decision for the transparent privatization of the plant, since now any potential buyer can be sure that creditors will not be able to contest his ownership of the plant.

"We at the fund are convinced that this will help expand the pool of potential buyers and dramatically increase the value of the asset," he said.

In his opinion, the decision of the Supreme Court protects the enterprise from the claims of creditors in Ukraine, its accounts cannot be seized, products, like other property, cannot be seized.

"We deprived Ostchem of the possibility of blackmail and any influence on the operating activities of the plant, which means that possible negotiations on restructuring or other agreements will be extremely constructive. The new owner will be able to fine-tune the work of the plant and come to an agreement with Group DF that suits the parties," Sennychenko said.

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua