Tomas Fiala is determined to continue profiting from Borjomi.
The investment group Dragon Capital has requested the National Agency for ARMA to halt the current competition for the IDS Borjomi asset manager and start a new one, citing violations in conduct.
This information comes from a statement by Dragon Capital. EP.
On February 9, ARMA announced a competition to select a manager for the seized Ukrainian assets of the IDS Borjomi group that makes and sells mineral water, including the Morshynska trademark.
Applications to participate are open until February 22.
The company explains that interested applicants only have 8 working days to thoroughly analyze the asset and associated risks, as well as to develop a strategy and financial forecast for managing it, which will determine the expected state budget income.
“The company believes that the competition duration is too short for responsible participants, especially considering that the court decision to seize the assets was made in November last year. It was necessary to start the competition earlier and it should last no less than 30 days, given sufficient access to information.This was noted in a press release.
The company also expressed concerns about the list of assets designated for management. The competition only covers the management of 100% of the corporate rights of two Ukrainian companies, excluding their property and real estate.
As a result, the winner of the tender will only manage corporate rights, including the right to vote at shareholder meetings.
However, according to Article 21 of the Law on ARMA, the manager will be required to coordinate actions with the owner of such assets, who are subject to sanctions, without direct control over the property of the plants..
This means the winner will need to coordinate with companies under sanctions without direct control over the plants' property.
“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.
Additionally, the competition does not cover the corporate rights of the Mirgorod plant, which also belongs to the same group and has been seized.
The company urges to halt the current tender, include all assets (including plants) in the management list, ensure access to necessary information, and announce a new tender to expand the list of potential participants and maximize state benefits.— 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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