The Supreme Court of Ukraine has decided not to satisfy claims of four Cypriot companies, which sold a 40.19% stake in Poltava Mining in 2002, to the said stake. The court protected the rights of foreign investors.

According to a press release of FCLEX law firm, on December 2, 2014 its lawyers successfully represented Poltava Mining during the corporate dispute in the Supreme Court of Ukraine. The subject matter of the trial was the validity of the sale and purchase agreement for 40% of shares in Poltava Mining, the price of which currently supersedes $100 million.

The press service said that back in 2002, the four non-resident companies that were part of VS Energy (Gilson Investments, Calefort Developments, Emsworth Assets and Trimcroft Service) sold 40% of shares in Poltava Mining to persons associated with the current owners of the plant. However, in 2005 the sellers appealed to court to invalidate the sale agreement, whereby the basis for the claim was the dubious assumptions that the participation of a securities trader in the agreement was "formal" and therefore the sellers were obliged to get licenses from professional stock market participants.

The dispute lasted since 2005 with a number of hearings in commercial courts.

The Supreme Court of Ukraine with its latest decision supported the position of investors and the plant and returned the legitimate status to the sale and purchase agreement for 40% of the shares, the law firm said.

Defense of the clients in courts was carried out by the team of FCLEX lawyers supervised by senior partner Viktor Barsuk and partner Andriy Nikitin.

"The latest ruling of the Supreme Court of Ukraine leveled a dangerous precedent that could have called into question the validity of a large number of contracts with foreign investors. The importance of the position declared by the Supreme Court of Ukraine can not be overestimated in the context of foreign investment protection and legal certainty for professional stock market," said Nikitin, commenting on the court decision.