And now it looks like they’ve found a new victim.
The Belarusian authorities seem to intend to “squeeze” another company with foreign capital. It’s about the automobile plant Unison – the enterprise is on the list of cases on seizure of property, which is posted on the website of the Supreme Court. Recall that earlier officials nationalized the establishments “MAK.by” – former McDonald’s restaurants, writes “Zerkalo”.
Briefly about what kind of enterprise it is
Belarusian-British firm “Unison” is located in the village of Obchak, Minsk district. It was founded in 1996 as a Belarusian-British joint venture Ford Union, in 2000 it was transformed into Unison. Some brands of cars were assembled there, including Ford, KIA, Samand. In 2020, the plant launched production of Chinese cars Changan, but in October 2021 it was suspended.
In July 2022, the plant “Unison” was included in the black list of the Belarusian government – a list of companies, whose foreign participants are prohibited to dispose of shares without the permission of the authorities. The British company J&W Sanderson Limited was listed as the foreign “mother” of this enterprise.
What is known about a possible “squeeze”
“Zerkalo” noticed on the website of the Supreme Court that the plant “Unison” is on the list of cases on seizure of property. Earlier, the list included the “mother” of “MAK.by” – former McDonald’s restaurants – the company “KCB Victori Restaurants.
According to the data on the Supreme Court website, the State Property Committee filed a lawsuit in the Economic Court of Minsk. Among the interested parties are the plant “Unison” and the British company J&W Sanderson Limited. As well as the British firm Carvell Group Ltd (it has already been liquidated) and the Belarusian Agrocapital (provides services on the stock market – including depository, brokerage, consulting). Previously, Agrocapital helped Unison with securities.
The listing for “squeeze” means that the authorities want to forcibly seize the objects of ownership “on grounds of public necessity in favor of the Republic of Belarus.” This is explained on the website of the Supreme Court. And the “squeeze” itself is carried out under a special law, which secretly appeared in early 2023, the document was signed by Alexander Lukashenko.
The reference “Zerkalo”. Among other things, the law “On seizure of property” affects businesses from “unfriendly” states and threatens foreign investors with serious consequences for bringing a company to bankruptcy or taking measures aimed at its liquidation. In particular, the managers of the enterprise with foreign capital can be replaced by representatives of the authorities or completely nationalized.
The Economic Court of Minsk has already held at least three sessions on the case related to “Unison” – on May 12, 16 and 23. The subject of discussion and other details are not reported.
According to legat.by service, in April this year, the plant had a debt to the state budget – on contributions to the Social Security Fund and to the tax authorities. But in May it was repaid.
In February of this year, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs was corrected for “Unison” – the owner appointed or changed the head of the company.
Meanwhile, several offers from the plant were placed in the national bank of vacancies.
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