JSC “Turboatom” informs that by the decision of the economic court of the Kharkiv region dated 26.04.2021, the process of payment of dividends to the shareholders of the enterprise was completely blocked. This decision was made to secure a not yet pending claim from the shareholder of the company, BISCONE LIMITED.
In our opinion, actions on the part of BISCONE LIMITED, the ultimate beneficial owner of which is a citizen of the Russian Federation, threaten the successful operation of the enterprise and its existence as a whole, since the seizure of almost 355 million UAH from JSC “Turboatom” may lead to bankruptcy. In addition, such actions potentially pose a threat to Ukraine's energy security.
It should be noted that BISCONE LIMITED, which owns 5.59% of the authorized capital of JSC “Turboatom”, is affiliated with the Russian holding PJSC “Power Machines”, and its actual owner is Oleksii Mordashov. Both he and “Power Machines” are included in the sanctions lists of the NSDC (decisions of the NSDC dated 21.06.2018 and 19.03.2019, approved by the corresponding decrees of the President of Ukraine No. 176/2018 and No. 82/2019).
These decisions were one of the reasons why "Turboatom" did not pay dividends in their favor. In turn, BISCONE LIMITED filed a lawsuit to recover almost 161 million UAH of dividends from JSC “Turboatom”. Also, BISCONE LIMITED filed a demand to “Turboatom” for a mandatory redemption of shares in the amount of 194 million UAH.
The resolution of the Economic Court of the Kharkiv Region dated 26.04.2021, in particular, established a prohibition for JSC “Turboatom” to pay dividends on ordinary shares based on the results of the company's financial and economic activities in 2019, 2020, and also banned the general meeting of JSC “Turboatom” make a decision on refusal to conclude agreements on compulsory redemption by the company of the shares owned by the shareholder on the basis of their requirements.
Consequently, the above court decision, infringing on the exercise of rights by the shareholders of the company, actually completely blocked the process of payment of dividends, which should have taken place based on the results of the General Meeting dated 29.04.2021, including to the state.
According to the draft decisions on the agenda, the planned amount of dividends to be paid based on the results of the enterprise's work in 2019 - 2020 is 270,299,499.00, UAH taking into account the dividends already paid during 2020, the amount blocked by the shareholder to be paid to the state , is 85203923.00 UAH.
It should be noted that the actions of the shareholder are played up by the judicial authorities, which by their illegal and unjustified decisions approved in favor of BISCONE LIMITED, create conditions for bringing JSC “Turboatom” to bankruptcy.
JSC “Turboatom” appealed against the ruling of the Economic Court of the Kharkiv Region dated 26.04.2021 in case No. 595з-21 with the aim of canceling the security measures unreasonably imposed by the court.
In addition, JSC “Turboatom” appealed to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal with a request to initiate, before the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the application of adequate restrictive measures against BISCONE LIMITED, provided for by the Law of Ukraine “On Sanctions”.