Joint-stock company says subsidiary of American holding used pressure to buy up stock
Kyiv`s closed joint-stock copmany Lesbum Servis has gone public with accusations that HCM Industry, a subsidiary of the American HCM holding, bought up shares from its shareholders through use of threats and blackmail.
According to Lesbum Servis’ board chairman Viktor Horokhovsky, HCM has already bought a blocking stake in Lesbum Servis, even though the firm is a closed-joint stock company. The designation means the company is giving priority on the purchase of its shareholders’ shares.
Lesbum Servis has filed complaints with the prosecutor’s office and the State Security Service in connection with the threats against its shareholders.
The company’s shareholders include 43 of its employees and pensioners, 10 of whom have filed complaints alleging threats and blackmail.
Two court cases have been filed in Luhansk and Zakarpattya oblasts.
Simultaneous with the court cases, both companies continue to scramble to buy up shares from minority shareholders.
The day after Lesbum Servis’ Dec. 9 press conference, the Interior Ministry conducted a search of the company’s office, demanding financial documentation.
The attempted buy-out comes as HCM implements aggressive plans to enter the warehouse market. In November, HCM bought warehouses in Vyshneve in Kyiv oblast. The company also plans to open their third logistics complex in Obuhiv, in Kyiv oblast, in January 2006.
Lesbum Servis, among other things, owns several warehouses on eight hectares of land with access to the railway through the Darnytsky railcar repair plant. If HCM Industry gains control over Lesbum Servis, it will own four warehouses in and around Kyiv.
