Ukraine’s High Court nationalizes Russia’s RUSAL unit

KIEV, Mar 12 (PRIME) -- The High Court of Ukraine has ruled to nationalize a 69.01% stake in the Zaporozhsky aluminum plant owned by Russian aluminum giant UC RUSAL, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement Thursday.

“The highest juridical institution put a full stop in a long-lived dispute on the annulment of the purchase of a 68.01% stake in the plant for over 380 million hryvnas (about U.S. $17.6 million) and return the stake into the government’s ownership,” the authority said.

In 2001, the State Property Fund sold the stake through an open tender to Russian company AvtoVAZ-Invest, in order to find money to redeem credits. The company also promised to invest about $200 million in the plant and repay $76.45 million worth of its debts. In 2006, AvtoVAZ-Invest sold the stake to Cyprus-based Velbay Holdings Limited, which is controlled by RUSAL.

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