The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) is to pronounce on the revision application submitted by the Republic of Moldova through the governmental agent to the European Court of Human Rights on March 18, 2020. The majority shareholders of “Gemeni” SA, who have managed the company since 2019, and a number of minority shareholders said that in fact, by this revision application, the applicants aim to liquidate the joint stock company “Gemeni”. If the revision applications in this case filed to the SCJ are accepted, the shareholders and also the creditors and the state will suffer serious consequences.
In a news conference at IPN, the lawyer for “Gemeni” SA Leonid Popescu said that if the revision requests are accepted by the SCJ and, as a result, “Gemeni” SA is liquidated, the commercial areas will be portioned out. The company will cease operations for a long period of time following the disputes that will appear as the majority shareholders and others will defend their interests. They will go to court, to the ECHR, to international arbitration courts so as to protect their investments.
Leonid Popescu noted the state will also suffer as it will be unable to collect the planned revenues into the budget. Annually, “Gemeni” SA pays about 10 million lei taxes into the state budget. Also, 500 business entities and their employees and the employees of the joint stock company will remain without working areas. “We want to be heard and understood correctly in this situation and want the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice to take a correct decision,” stated Leonid Popescu.
Leonid Sidorov, the representative of the majority shareholders of “Gemeni” SA, said that by this revision application, the applicants demand to liquidate the joint stock company “Gemeni”, to separate a portion of the shopping center “Gemeni” of about 72% of the total commercial area and to transfer this to a group of four persons – current minority shareholders of “Gemeni” SA. By the request to liquidate the company, they ask to dispossess the other 480 shareholders of the joint stock company “Gemeni” of their shares.
The majority shareholders of “Gemeni” SA, who have managed the company since 2019, and a number of minority shareholders said they became the target of a denigration and manipulation campaign that is aimed at exerting pressure on the Supreme Court of Justice and on public opinion so that they are expropriated of the business they acquired legally, as bona fide purchasers. The concerns were incorporated into an open letter addressed to the senior administration and to the resident ambassadors of the U.S. and the EU.
