News (#01-02 January-February 2019)

Cases

Prominvestbank sues AVK plant in Dnipro over loan

On 13 December the Economic Court of Donetsk Region partially upheld the claim filed by Prominvestbank against the AVK Company. Prominvestbank, which acted as a creditor of AVK, demanded enforced seizure of pledge and mortgaged property, namely the company factory located in Dnipro. The total amount of indebtedness under the loan facility agreement is UAH 1.37 billion. The Court imposed a court-enforced seizure of real estate, vehicles and fixed assets through their sale at public tenders.

In its official statement on upholding of the claim by Pravex Bank PJSC, AVK CJSC noted that the factory is operating in normal mode. At the same time, the company continues to hold negotiations with Prominvestbank PJSC on restructuring debts under loan obligations.

 

Uber set to appeal ban by Brussels court

The Brussels Court of Commerce has ruled that Uber transportation services are illegal in the capital of Belgium, noting that such services can only be provided by drivers that possess taxi licenses and the corresponding identification markings (checker pattern). By doing so the Court clarified its preliminary ruling of 2015 on prohibition of UberPOP, which is one of two services provided by the company.

UberPOP, which was recognized as illegal in 2015, involved unprofessional drivers, while UberX supplies professional drivers to passengers. Uber states that these drivers have all the necessary licenses, and so this ruling has not substantiated a ban on the activities of UberX.

Uber lawyers said that the final ruling in this case would be issued by the Court of Appeal.

It should be noted that the court ruling has effect on the territory of all 19 communes in Brussels, but users can still use Uber services to get from the city center to the city limits or vice versa.

 

Court rejected Tolexis Trading Limited (Group DF) claim to return Titanium & Magnesium Combine

The Central Economic Court of Appeal has upheld the ruling of the court of first instance to terminate the agreement on establishment of the Zaporozhye Titanium & Magnesium Combine (ZTMC), which became the basis of returning the property to management by the State Property Fund of Ukraine.

The ZTMC state enterprise was transformed into a limited liability company in 2013 with the intended purpose of attracting investment for introducing modern technologies and renewing manufacturing. A memorandum of association was concluded between the SPFU and the winner of the tender, Tolexis Trading Limited (Cyprus), which is a member of Group DF. The company was actually transferred under the management of the administration related to the investor, which spent most of the investment raised to repay the debts of SE ZTMC incurred for energy resources and debts owed to creditors connected to Group DF. At the same time, just  UAH 20 million was spent on modernizing production.

A reminder that the Zaporozhye Titanium & Magnesium Combine is the only producer of titanium sponge in Europe.

 

NBU filed new lawsuit against Ihor Kolomoiskyi

The National Bank of Ukraine has filed a lawsuit against Ihor Kolomoiskyi, ex-shareholder of Privatbank, in Switzerland. The lawsuit was filed at the Court of First Instance of the Republic and the Canton of Geneva for a total amount of UAH 6.64 billion.

The lawsuit is filed at the place of residence of the bank’s ex-shareholder in order to recover from Ihor Kolomoiskyi, who acted as the financial guarantor to the NBU, indebtedness incurred on personal securities issued in 2016 under five agreements on bank refinancing loans. The NBU reminded that in order to ensure fulfillment of commitments undertaken by Mr. Kolomoiskyi under personal securities, it filed 147 lawsuits against him and his 32 related companies, property surety providers, to Ukrainian courts at the beginning of June 2018.

 

German court held that Amazon Dash buttons violate consumer protection law

Amazon Dash buttons, which are thumb-sized buttons for instant order of goods, violate German consumer protection laws because they do not provide purchasers with sufficient information about the product being ordered or its price. The Higher Regional Court of Munich adopted such a ruling. Germany is one of the first countries where Amazon introduced Dash buttons. These devices appeared in the country in 2016. Members of the Amazon Prime Premium Community can order certain products with one click by using these buttons. For example, washing powder, coffee or dishwasher tablets.

The court issued the ruling last month after a complaint filed by Verbraucherzentrale NRW, a local consumer protection center, claiming that Amazon Dash service violates German law, under which consumers have the right to know the purchase price.

The organization believes that Amazon may sooner or later change the product price or its quantity without informing users of this. Currently, Amazon sends information about the purchase and its price to the application after the order is made.

However, following the court ruling, the company will have to provide this information to the buyer in advance, Verbraucherzentrale NRW assures. At the same time, Amazon intends to appeal against the judgment.

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