REUTERS
Kyiv's Pechersky District Court removed an attachment of the accounts of the wholesale distributor of cigarettes Tedis Ukraine (formerly known as Megapolis), which is associated with Russian businessmen, according to the court ruling of May 5, 2017, published in the Unified State Register of Judicial Decisions.
In April 2017, the court arrested the assets of Tedis in the accounts of PrivatBank and Raiffeisen Bank Aval, while the company appealed the move in court.
"During the trial, the investigator did not object to the satisfaction of the petition [on the abolition of the seizure of accounts]. Having examined the materials of the petition and having heard the opinion of the participants in the trial, the investigating judge came to the conclusion that the petition is justified and subject to satisfaction," the ruling said.
In addition, the court ordered the investigators to return the company the tobacco products seized during the search of warehouses in the cities of Sumy and Zaporizhia.
Read alsoPremises of tobacco monopoly raided in terrorism financing probeAs UNIAN reported earlier, March 31, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said that Tedis Ukraine was suspected of evading taxes in large amounts, financing terrorists and illegally withdrawing UAH 2.5 billion to Russia. In addition, according to law enforcement officials, Russian citizen Kesaev has been one of the company's owners since 2012. He also controls the V. Degtyarev plant, providing the Russian army with weapons and equipment.
In connection with these suspicions, the law enforcers have conducted over 100 searches at the company's offices across Ukraine starting March 31.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (ACU) in October 2015 began an investigation into the case of violation of the competition law by Tedis Ukraine, and imposed a UAH 431.2 million fine on it only in late December 2016. In the opinion of Prosecutor General Lutsenko, the ACU promotes the company's monopoly position.
Read alsoAvakov elaborates on "tobacco raid"At the end of April this year, Tedis reported that its final beneficiaries are Ukrainian businessman Boris Kaufman and two Brits - Richard Duxbury and Richard Dorian Fenhalls.
UNIAN memo. Russian distributor Megapolis established Megapolis-Ukraine in 2010. Podillya-Tyutyun became the parent company, which was bought first. In fact, Megapolis-Ukraine absorbed all other distributors of tobacco products in Ukraine for a year and a half. The Russian Megapolis belongs to businessman Igor Kesaev.