The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) embarrasses Ukraine at top international grain conference says Mr Alekszej Fedoricsev, Chairman of Fedcominvest
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
19.04.17 (UKRAINE) - Fedcominvest, a world-leading export business and the
principal sponsor of AS Monaco FC, are appalled by the ongoing harassment of
their staff by the controversial and discredited National Anti-Corruption Bureau
of Ukraine (NABU).
On 5 April 2017, senior Fedcominvest executives were in Kyiv attending the
14(th) International Black Sea Grain Conference to discuss future investments in
the Ukrainian grain sector with industry colleagues from around the world. At
around 2pm during a public presentation at the InterContinental Kyiv, two NABU
detectives escorted Italian national Mr Marco Garzone (Vice President of
Fedcominvest) out of the conference hall and questioned him for 12 hours at the
bureau's headquarters in central Kyiv.
For several months now, NABU has pursued an unjustified and politically
motivated investigation into Fedcominvest and its Chairman, Mr Alekszej
Fedoricsev. NABU's baseless allegations centre on commercial disputes between
the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SF&G) and a number of private
firms. Fedcominvest is not a party to any dispute with SF&G.
The Ukrainian government has struggled since 2012 to meet the terms of a US$ 3
billion 'loan-for-grains' contract with China. SF&G state grain terminals can
only cope with 12% of national annual export volumes, which has long forced the
Ukrainian government to sign transhipment contracts with private sector
terminals operators like Mr Fedoricsev. Mr Fedoricsev is the owner of TIS grain
terminals in the Odessa region which have a capacity of 27 million tonnes per
year.
The objective of NABU's investigations and their heavy-handed approach to
questioning Mr Garzone appears to be to seize the privately owned TIS terminals
to meet the high demand for grain exports. SF&G's Deputy Chairman, Andriy Repko
recently admitted that Ukraine needs to build a new state grain terminal
suitable for large vessels.
Fedcominvest is concerned that the overzealous actions of NABU will undermine
foreign direct investment in Ukraine and could hamper efforts by President
Poroshenko and his international partners to make the Odessa region a global
leader in commodities shipping.
Mr Fedoricsev says, "Having invested hundreds of millions of hryvnias in high-
tech grain terminals in Ukraine and provided employment to thousands of hard-
working Odessans, I am disgusted that my staff at Fedcominvest were harassed by
NABU investigators. The Black Sea Grain Conference is an opportunity for Ukraine
to showcase itself to the world, but sadly NABU has embarrassed their country
and may jeopardise future international infrastructure investment."
**ENDS**
Background information:
1. National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU)
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) is a Ukrainian law
enforcement agency founded in October 2014 which investigates corruption in
Ukraine and prepares cases for prosecution. NABU has investigatory powers
although it cannot indict suspects directly and must pass any evidence of
corruption over to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
NABU was created at the request of the International Monetary Fund and the
European Commission in return for the relaxation of visa restrictions between
Ukraine and the European Union. NABU's funding by the Ukrainian Government is
mandated under US and European Union aid programs. NABU recently received
funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) as part of
the Good Governance Fund for Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans.
The NABU's detectives only started work in October 2015 and the bureau has
already been the subject of allegations of corruption and ineffectiveness. In
February 2017, the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli
expressed concern about proposed amendments to the laws governing NABU and noted
the EU Delegation was 'alarmed' at the state of anti-corruption efforts in
Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office has strongly criticised NABU's
impartiality and there is currently a parliamentary dispute about who should be
appointed to the independent commission to audit NABU.
2. Fedcominvest Europe SARL
Fedcominvest Europe SARL, is a world-leading export business, specialising in
the trading of grain, sulphur and fertilizers.
Founded in 2009 in the Principality of Monaco, the company has expertise in the
storage, shipping and distribution of a variety of commodities. Fedcominvest has
a significant presence in Western Europe and is a market-leader in the supply of
grain from the deep-water ports of Odessa region to countries in the MENA
region.
In 2016 Fedcominvest shipped over 5 million tonnes of grain to countries around
the world including, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.
3. Alekszej Fedoricsev
Alekszej Fedoricsev is a successful Russian-born businessman. He is the founder
of Fedcominvest, a global export business, specialising in the trading of
sulphur and fertilizers. Fedcominvest are one of the principal sponsors of AS
Monaco FC.
After starting his career as a professional footballer for Moscow club FC
Dynamo, Mr Fedoricsev began trading in car parts during the fall of the Soviet
Union. He quickly became a specialist in the business of logistics,
concentrating on transporting and trading in grain and chemicals including
ammonia, phosphates and sulphur. His company, Fedcominvest, is now a global
leader in the field.
A values-driven and self-made businessman, Mr Fedoricsev's business ethos is
centred on re-investing profits back into his businesses. This has proven to be
a hugely successful model, with his business interests now spanning across
commodities, sport, media, shipping and property.
A passionate sportsperson, Mr Fedoricsev is a leading figure in European
football. As well as Fedcominvest sponsoring AS Monaco FC, Mr Fedoricsev
previously owned a significant stake in FC Dynamo (Moscow). As part of his
commitment to make football accessible to all, he bought the rights to show
football in Russia and allowed fans to watch the matches for no charge.
4. 2012 Loan-For-Grains Contract between the Governments of China and Ukraine
In 2012, the Ukrainian Government entered into a Loan-For-Grains Contract with
the China National Complete Engineering Corporation ("CCEC") under which the
Chinese Government agreed to provide Ukraine with access to $3 billion in credit
lines in exchange for supplies of corn. It was reported that the Export-Import
Bank of China ("Eximbank") agreed to lend this money at six-month LIBOR+4.5%
over 15 years with a five-year grace period.
The first $1.5-billion tranche of a loan was sent by China's Eximbank to the
State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine in 2013.
At the time this agreement was reached the Ukrainian Farm Minister Mykola
Prysyazhnyuk was quoted as stating that Ukraine expected to supply between 2.0
million to 2.5 million tonnes of maize to China every year to pay off the $3
billion loan.
See: https://www.ft.com/content/79bc2174-0276-11e2-8cf8-00144feabdc0
http://china.aiddata.org/projects/42559
5. The commercial dispute involving SF&G and transhipment contracts
In 2012, SF&G entered into a US$ 3 billion 'loan-for-grains' contract, which the
Ukrainian Government agreed with the Chinese government, knowing that the
maximum transhipment capacity of their own terminals was just around 2 million
tonnes per year.
From more or less the commencement of the loan term, China demanded more grain
from Ukraine that could be transhipped through State terminals. In 2013, this
demand reached such a level that the SF&G was unable to perform its obligations
under the loan. SF&G therefore sought use of Ukraine's privately owned TIS
terminals to tranship their grain.
In order to secure the transhipment services at privately owned terminals in
Odesa region SF&G had to do two things they were unaccustomed to doing:
1. Pay for the privately owned terminals to tranship their grain; and
2. Pay a portion of the transhipment costs to foreign companies in the manner
of accepted industry practice.
Due to Ukrainian currency restrictions on foreign companies, SF&G were unable to
pay for transhipment directly to the foreign company (which was Mr Fedoricsev's
logistics company Grain-Trans, which provides informational and commercial
support of the transhipment process) and agreed with TIS terminals' owner, Mr
Fedoricsev, that they would pay the part of transhipment costs to the foreign
company once the restrictions are lifted.
To facilitate the deal, SF&G secured their obligation to pay for transhipment
with the grain to a third company (Lirtavis), which would prepay the
transhipment costs to Grain-Trans. It is important to note that Mr Fedoricsev
has no commercial or other interest in Lirtavis. He is, however, the owner of
the terminals which SF&G desperately required to meet demand for grain exports.
To this day, SF&G has not paid the balance of transhipment costs to Grain-Trans,
so Lirtavis has lawfully withheld part-payment of the grain to cover this
expense.
This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Fedcominvest Monaco SAM via GlobeNewswire
Datum: 19.04.2017 - 11:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 536946
Anzahl Zeichen: 11000
contact information:
Town:
Monaco
Kategorie:
Business News
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 232 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) embarrasses Ukraine at top international grain conference says Mr Alekszej Fedoricsev, Chairman of Fedcominvest"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
Fedcominvest Monaco SAM (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
