Russian tycoon to sue Ukraine – RBK

Russian investment group USM, majority-owned by billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov, will take legal action after a Ukrainian court ordered its assets in the country to be seized, RBK reported on Friday, citing the company’s press office.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian Deputy Justice Minister Inna Bogatykh said in a Facebook post that the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine had ordered the confiscation of 165,000 tons of iron ore worth over $48 million currently in Ukrainian ports, and 100% of Peter-Service Ukraine, an IT company belonging to USM

“We will make every effort to ensure that international courts give a proper assessment of the unlawful actions of the executive and judicial authorities of Ukraine,” the USM press office told RBK. The ruling is “a blatant example of illegal and unjustified legalization of appropriation of property belonging to private individuals,” it added. 

The company claimed that the assets in the case had previously been illegally blocked and held “in the best pirate traditions for more than two years.”

One of the enterprises owned by Usmanov’s Metalloinvest purchased iron ore in Russia and then exported it to other countries via the territory of Ukraine, USM noted. It added that the authorities in Kiev had detained the shipments “in the absence of any legal grounds” shortly after escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, and then seized them “as part of trumped-up criminal cases.”

The latest ruling is “the final point in the process of illegal expropriation of the property,” the company argued.

The Uzbek-born Usmanov holds a major stake in USM, a Russian investment group with holdings in Metalloinvest, one of the world’s largest iron ore producers, and telecommunications company MegaFon. Usmanov’s net worth totals $13.4 billion, according to Forbes. The 71-year-old billionaire was added to UK, EU, and US sanctions lists shortly after the Ukrainian conflict escalated more than two years ago.

The businessman has been dragged into numerous litigations in recent years. In January, Usmanov won a milestone victory against Forbes magazine over allegations of ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the European Court of Justice dismissed the tycoon’s appeal to overturn sanctions introduced by the bloc against him over his alleged “particularly close ties” to the Russian leader.

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