What follows is the complete text of the Financial Times article.
Tony Blair, the prime minister, has taken the unusual step of writing to another head of state over concerns about the way a British company is being treated.
Mr Blair last Friday wrote to Leonid Kuchma, president of Ukraine, over alleged efforts by the Ukrainian State Property Fund to expropriate the assets of JKX Oil & Gas, a UK exploration and production company.
Mr Blair is understood to have asked Mr Kuchma to give assurances that JKX would be allowed to keep its assets and warned about the impact on foreign investment in Ukraine if the rule of law was not upheld.
A foreign office official confirmed the letter had been sent, but said the exact contents were “a private matter between Mr Blair and Mr Kuchma”.
“JKX has expressed concerns for some time about the actions of the State Property Fund and the prime minister wants Mr Kuchma to know that he is interested in the development of this case,” he said.
JKX owns 49 per cent of Poltava Petroleum Company, a Ukrainian gas producer, through its JP Kenny Exploration and Production subsidiary.
It alleges that the State Property Fund, the owner of a 25 per cent stake in PPC, attempted last month to expel JPK from the company and give its interests to Naftogaztechnologia, a private Ukrainian group.
Armed representatives of Naftogaztechnologia attempted to gain entry to PPC’s offices last month, but backed down following a ruling from the Supreme Arbitration Court of Ukraine, valid until June 15, banning the State Property Fund from making any changes to the share interests of PPC.
Private investigators and British and European law enforcement agencies have traced the ownership of Naftogaztechnologia to a chain of offshore holding companies registered in Austria, Cyprus, Luxembourg, and the Channel Islands.
JKX is owed some Dollars 50m (Pounds 35m) in unpaid bills for gas delivered to the Ukrainian government and private companies between 1996 and 1997. The Ukrainian government claims JKX has failed to deliver on a number of investment promises since entering Ukraine in 1993.
The company is due to go to the Supreme Arbitration Court on Thursday to seek a ruling that the expropriation attempt was illegal. JKX said that, since the letter, the Ukrainian ambassador in London had said the matter would be subject to a full investigation.
Copyright: The Financial Times Limited
