Today, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACCU) registered a claim of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine against Arkadiy Rotenberg and his son for the application of a confiscatory sanction (clause 1-1, part 1, article 4 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Sanctions’)
The total number of parties to the case is 19. It should be noted that the third party, which does not claim any independent claims in the dispute, is Ukrainian businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky, who bought out a stake in Rotenberg's business in 2020. The other part was bought out by Swiss citizens Susanne and Andrea Rishaal Wallabh, who are also involved in the case as third parties.
Source: Judiciary of Ukraine
Third parties not claiming independent claims to the subject matter of the dispute: Wallabh Andrea Rishaal, Wallabh Susanne, UPD (UKRAINIAN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT) HOLDING LIMITED, ETHODER INVESTMENTS LIMITED, OUSHEN PLAZA PROJECT (CIPR) LTD, Rotenberg Lilia Arkadievna, Krasnik Natalia, Skorobohatko Volodymyr Oleksandrovych, Skorobohatko Ivan Oleksandrovych, Khmelnytsky Vasyl Ivanovych, AVANGARD-VILARTI LLC, INVESTMENT SOCIETY LIBID LLC, Ponomarenko Danylo Oleksandrovych, Ponomarenko Mykyta Oleksandrovych.
Defendants: Oleksandr Anatoliyovych Ponomarenko, Oleksandr Ivanovych Skorobohatko, Arkadii Romanovych Rotenberg, Ihor Arkadiiovych Rotenberg
Plaintiff: Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
Rotenberg is the fourth Russian oligarch to have his assets confiscated in Ukraine. Prior to this, the HACC has already seized the assets of arms manufacturer Yevtushenkov, the oligarch who owned a factory that helped produce titanium for the Russian defence company Shelkov, and Russian oligarch Deripaska, who, among other things, had his Mykolaiv Alumina Plant confiscated (an appeal is currently pending).
In total, this is the sixteenth lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Justice for confiscation under the special mechanism, which began operating in late May 2022, but only the fourth lawsuit against a Russian oligarch.
Read more about what Ukraine and the world have managed to confiscate during the year of war here.
Arkady Rotenberg is a Russian oligarch and a close friend of Putin. The construction of the Crimean bridge is associated with him. In October 2022, the National Security and Defence Council imposed sanctions on Rotenberg.
There is no information on the assets to be confiscated from Rotenberg, but the media has repeatedly reported that the Russian oligarch owns the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in Kyiv through IS Lybid LLC. The value of this facility is estimated at $180 million. Most likely, it will also involve the confiscation of other Ukrainian assets of Rotenberg, which are formally owned by this LLC. These include three land plots and 15 apartments in Kyiv.
It is worth noting that the need to confiscate Rotenberg's assets was highlighted by the public, which appealed to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to file a lawsuit against Rotenberg.
Given that the assets do not belong to Rotenberg ‘directly’, the HACC process will not be easy, as, in addition to establishing the grounds for confiscation, it will be necessary to prove the oligarch's connection to these assets. However, as practice shows, in particular in the cases of confiscation of assets of Shelkov and Deripaska, it is quite possible to do so. Therefore, there is every reason to hope for a positive decision.