
Tomas Fiala wants to keep cashing in on Borjomi
The Dragon Capital investment group called on the National Agency for the Detection, Search and Management of Assets Obtained from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA) to stop the already announced and launch a new competition for the asset manager of the IDS Borjomi group of companies. The company announced violations in its conduct.
This is stated in the release of Dragon Capital, writes EP.
On February 9, ARMA announced a competition for the selection of a manager for the arrested Ukrainian assets of the IDS Borjomi group of companies that produces and sells mineral water, in particular, under the Morshynska TM.
Applications for participation in it are accepted until February 22.
The company explains that, accordingly, interested participants have 8 working days for a comprehensive analysis of the potential management object and the risks associated with it. And also in pursuance of such conditions of the competition as the formulation of a strategy and the preparation of a financial forecast, which will determine the expected income of the state budget from management.
“Such a duration of the competition is absolutely insufficient for any responsible participant. Considering that the court decision to seize property was made back in November last year, it was necessary to start the competition earlier, but in any case it cannot last less than 30 days, provided that there is access to sufficient information“, – it is noted. in a press release.
The company also expressed concern about the list of assets transferred for management. The competition was announced only for the management of 100% of the corporate rights of two Ukrainian companies, and their integral property complexes and real estate (factories) are not included in the list of assets.
Consequently, the winner of the tender will be able to manage only corporate rights, which provides for the right to vote at the shareholders’ meeting.
However, according to part 7 of Art. 21 of the Law on ARMA, “in the case of asset management in the form of a share in the authorized (share) capital or shares, shares, the manager, when exercising the powers of the owner of such assets in the supreme management bodies of the relevant legal entity, is obliged to coordinate his actions with the owner of such assets”.
That is, the winner of the tender will be forced to coordinate their actions with companies whose Russian beneficial owners are subject to Ukrainian and international sanctions, without being able to directly manage the property of the respective plants.
“Such specifics of the competition significantly limits the circle of its participants and, in the end, can lead to direct losses of the state budget,” Dragon Capital added.
In addition, the corporate rights of the plant in the city of Mirgorod, which produces mineral water under the TM “Mirgorodskaya” and belongs to the same group, did not fall within the perimeter of the competition. These assets were also seized.
“We urge to stop holding this tender, to include all assets (including plants) belonging to this group in the list of assets transferred for management as soon as possible, to ensure the availability of the necessary information and to announce a new tender. To avoid speculation, I confirm that our group remains interested in participating in a transparent competition for the management of this asset, and our call is aimed at expanding the list of potential participants in such a competition and maximizing the benefits for the state from holding it.”— commented Tomas Fiala, CEO of Dragon Capital.
The company is confident that a properly organized competition for management, and even more so the further nationalization and sale of such an asset, should arouse great interest not only from local players, but also from large international companies. Thanks to this, the state could count on annual income from management, which would be in the millions of dollars.
Reminder:
The National Agency for the Tracing and Management of Assets Obtained from Corruption Crimes has announced a competition for the managing producer of mineral waters, in particular, the Morshynska, Mirgorodska and Borjomi brands.
In June 2022, the court arrested shares and funds in the amount of UAH 53.4 million in a company for the production and sale of mineral water owned by Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman.
Fiala wants to continue cashing in on Borjomi
In Ukraine, Fridman, with partners German Khan and Petr Aven, owns IDS Group Ukraine, a subsidiary of the international group IDS Borjomi International (part of Alfa Group). On the market, in addition to being the exclusive importer of Borjomi water to Ukraine, it is represented by a number of brands, in particular, Morshynska and Mirgorodska waters.
The investment company Dragon Capital is owned by Tomas Fiala, who owns Ukrayinska Pravda.
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