The company Arricano Real Estate PLC (Cyprus), which owns four shopping centers in Ukraine (in Kyiv, Zaporizhia and Kryvyi Rih) through its Ukrainian subsidiaries, announces the blocking of the activity of shopping centers CITY MALL (Zaporizhia) and RayON (Kyiv) ).
As reported in the Arricano press release, on June 17, 2024, at the request of the prosecutor of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the investigating judge of the Solomyanskyi District Court of the city of Kyiv seized the accounts of Pryzma Alfa LLC and Livoberezhzhyainvest PJSC, which manage the CITY MALL shopping center (Zaporizhia) and the shopping center “RaiON”.
The company emphasized that these court decisions not only effectively blocked the economic activity of the mentioned companies, but also deprived them of the opportunity to pay national taxes and fees (VAT, corporate income tax, environmental tax) and fulfill credit obligations to Ukrainian banks.
“While President Zelenskyi and the Ukrainian government are announcing the start of negotiations with the EU and the unchangeability of Ukraine’s European path, law enforcement agencies, the prosecutor’s office and the courts are making decisions that are unthinkable in an EU state. The court’s decision to seize the accounts of Arricano group companies in Ukraine is absurd. The state deprived us of the opportunity to fulfill our obligations to Ukraine and creditors. These actions once again confirm that, in relation to a group of companies, Ukrainian law enforcement structures and courts are carrying out someone’s order,” Margus Kurm, the chairman of the board of directors of Arricano Real Estate PLC, expressed his indignation.
The company considers the decisions of investigative courts to be biased and selective.
“For the same reasons and justifications, some investigative judges decide on the seizure of accounts, while others believe that there are no legal grounds for imposing a seizure on accounts. Thus, in March and May of this year, other investigative judges of the same court refused the prosecutor to grant identical requests. It is unclear what could have changed in recent days. In fact, what is happening with Arricano’s assets in Ukraine is raiding with the involvement of state authorities,” Kurm notes.
According to him, the consequence of such actions may be the complete stoppage of all Arricano shopping centers – both in Kyiv and in Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih.
The release emphasizes that during 2023-2024 the assets of Arricano Real Estate PLC (Cyprus) in Ukraine are under systemic pressure from law enforcement agencies. The company considers the decision to seize the accounts of Pryzma Alfa LLC and Livoberezhzhiainvest PJSC as another increase in pressure from law enforcement agencies, the ultimate goal of which is to seize the assets of Arricano Real Estate PLC (Cyprus) in Ukraine.
The company will inform the relevant diplomatic agencies of the EU about these actions by law enforcement agencies.
