Beijing-based investment company Skyrizon announced on Sunday that it submitted an application for arbitration to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, requesting a ruling that Ukraine violated the bilateral agreement on the encouragement and mutual protection of investments and demanding $4.5 billion in compensation for alleged unfair treatment of Chinese investors by Ukraine, the company said in a statement according to “Global Times”.
According to Skyrizon, Chinese investors have experienced significant losses in Ukraine and in China due to a five-year period of unfair treatment and the continued implementation of illegal measures in Ukraine. The company said that it will use all possible legal ways to defend its legitimate rights.
It's worth noting that on January 29, 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an order No. 29/2021, which enacts the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC). According to the order, Ukraine imposed sanctions for three years (until January 2024) against Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited (British Virgin Islands), which owns 10% of shares in the largest manufacturer of aircraft engines and gas turbine units Motor Sich (Zaporizhia), Beijing Skyrizon (China) wishing to purchase shares of the enterprise, as well as related companies.
The sanctioned list of legal companies includes Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited and Hong Kong Skyrizon Holdings Limited, owned by Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment, Beijing Skyrizon itself, and Beijing Xinwei Technology Group Co., which controls Beijing Skyrizon.
Besides, Chinese citizen Wang Jing, a key shareholder of Beijing Xinwei and Beijing Skyrizon, also fell under the sanctions.
Sanctions, in particular, provide for blocking assets, preventing the export of capital outside Ukraine, prohibiting an increase in the size of the authorized capital of business entities, enterprises, cancellation of official visits and negotiations on the conclusion of agreements.
Noteworthy, in January 2021, the United States Department of Commerce also imposed sanctions on Beijing Skyrizon because the Chinese company posed a threat to the U.S. national security.
In November 2020, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) returned the application of the Development Construction Holding (DCH) group of Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi and its partner Beijing Skyrizon (China) for the purchase of shares in Motor Sich without consideration for the third time.
On August 4, DCH announced that it had reached an agreement with investors of the Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited (British Virgin Islands) on cooperation in the development of the Motor Sich.
Former AMCU chairperson Yurii Terentiev admitted sanctions from the United States in the case of joint control by Skyrizon Aircraft and the Ukroboronprom state concern over the Motor Sich.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy considers it a priority to preserve Motor Sich in Ukraine.
In July 2019, the AMCU began considering the case on obtaining joint control by Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited and the Ukroboronprom concern over the Motor Sich.
The AMCU also considered the acquisition by Skyrizon Aircraft of shares of Granum Corporation (Panama), Likatron Enterprises Limited (Cyprus) and Reckoner Investment Holdings Limited (Cyprus), which provides an excess of 50% of votes in the supreme governing bodies of these companies.
It is noted that these concentrations were stages of a multi-stage deal aimed at the acquisition of joint control over Motor Sich PJSC by Skyrizon Aircraft and the state of Ukraine represented by the Ukroboronprom.