Court on May 9 will consider petition of SBI and PGO for seizure of Ferrexpo PGOK cars in case of illegal subsoil use
On May 9, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv will consider the petition of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) for the seizure of freight cars of PrJSC Poltava Mining and Processing Plant (PGOK), a subsidiary of Ferrexpo Group, in the case of subsoil use.
According to information from PGOK, the SBI is trying to again seize and ban the use of 2,382 high-sided wagons, which are owned by the enterprise and were used to deliver products to consumers in Europe and Asia.
It is clarified that based on the ruling of the investigating judge of the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv dated April 22, 2024, the seizure of high-sided wagons in terms of the ban on their use was cancelled. However, PGOK recently became aware of a new petition from SBI investigators and PGO prosecutors for the repeated arrest and ban on the use of 2,382 of its cars. This petition will be heard again by the same court on May 9, 2024.
The group is reportedly consulting with legal advisers in Ukraine. PGOK believes that the SBI has no valid grounds for requesting the arrest of the cars and a ban on their use.
At the same time, it is reported that as of the beginning of May 2024, direct losses of PGOK from the ban on the use of cars amounted to UAH 103.3 million. This damage includes payment for forced storage and forced replacement of own seized cars.
The company is considering the possibility of filing a claim against the state in order to compensate for damage caused by the illegal actions of SBI employees. (According to the bureau, the damage caused to the state for the illegal extraction and sale of mineral resources of state significance amounted to almost UAH 400 million).
The updated official position of PGOK states that “the ban on the use of railcars jeopardizes the timely fulfillment of contractual obligations to international consumers from EU countries, which will entail the loss of partnerships and the replacement of Ukrainian products with Russian analogues. In turn, the loss of EU markets for PGOK may lead to the state's shortfall in foreign exchange earnings amounting to more than UAH 30 billion per year."