Ukrainian Media Holding, which belongs to ex-President Viktor Yanukovych's alleged front man, on Jan. 13 resumed use of the forbes.ua domain even though the license owner, Forbes Media, says the use is “not authorized.”
An arbitration hearing in New York is scheduled to begin on Feb. 1 to “address all outstanding issues between the parties,” Forbes Media spokeswoman Mia Carbonell told the Kyiv Post in an emailed note.
UMH still publishes the print and online edition of Forbes in Ukraine, despite efforts by Forbes Media since mid-2014 to deny the holding company of fugitive Serhiy Kurchenko, Yanukovych’s ally, access to the Forbes brand.
The European Union froze his assets in sanctions imposed on the 30-year-old who faces charges of running a criminal enterprise in Ukraine.
In August, the license owner deprived UMH rights to the forbes.ua domain address, citing U.S. sanctions imposed on Kurchenko on July 30, 2015.
When Forbes denied UMH access to forbes.ua on Aug. 6, the company on the same day moved to forbes.net.ua.
UMH has maintained that it has publishing rights to the business news publication in Ukraine, citing a licensing agreement that runs through 2018.
“We cannot provide additional information due to confidentiality conditions,” UMH spokeswoman Olena Chyhryn told the Kyiv Post in an emailed note.
“Including Mr. Kurchenko to the list of U.S. sanctions as of July 30, 2015 doesn’t affect the rights of UMH to continue publishing the magazine and use the Forbes trademark,” UMH said in a statement on Aug. 8. “UMH paid for the rights through 2018 and has the right to continue using them.”
Kurchenko purchased the company that licensed Forbes’ Ukrainian edition in June 2013.
“Forbes says it has protected the Forbes Media unit from any potential liabilities from the Ukrainian dispute. People familiar with the matter say those should be less than $5 million but that there is an extra $35 million in escrow if needed,” a Financial Times report said.
Kurchenko is suspected of large-scale embezzlement, theft of funds and causing the state Hr 5 billion in damages. He is widely believed to be residing in Russia along with many fugitives tied to the corrupt Yanukovych administration.
In July 2014 the Forbes family sold a majority stake in its media empire to a collection of investors led by Integrated Asset Management (Asia) Ltd., founded by investor Tak Cheung Yam, Bloomberg reported citing a statement by Forbes. The transaction was valued at $475 million.
