EU investors in Moldova victim of share theft; welcome Prime Minister’s support

European investors that became victims of a share theft welcome the Prime Minister’s support. The group of investors made public its position in a press statement issued on September 7, Info-Prim Neo reports. “A group of European investors was the target of a premeditated attack on their shareholding in Moldova Agroindbank S.A. (“MAIB”), the largest bank in Moldova. This is the first time EU investors have become victims of an attack of such scale in Moldova,” says the press release. The investors welcome the Prime Minister’s statements. On Monday, September 5, Vlad Filat held a press conference in which he made it clear that unwinding the knot created by this fraudulent attack, which took advantage of weaknesses in the Moldovan legal system, is a priority for the Moldovan authorities. “The investors had their 28% stake in MAIB stolen in July and August this year. The theft was based on a decision of the Bender Appellate Court, located in the Moldovan town of Causeni, to recognize and enforce a photocopy of an ad hoc arbitral award that was allegedly issued in Saint Petersburg, Russia by arbitrators who cannot be located after one month of searching,” reads the press release. According to the investors, the victims were deliberately kept unaware of the proceedings until too late. Grave violations of material and procedural law occurred. The investors have taken legal steps in Moldova and in a number of other relevant jurisdictions and intend to pursue all means under the law to recover their stakes in this market-leading business. “The Moldovan authorities moved quickly to prevent future such thefts, enacting laws to safeguard other investors and entities that could be subject to such attacks. However, while the legislation will make future thefts more difficult, the European investors’ shares were stolen before the law was passed and their shares have not yet been returned,” it is said in the press statement. The Moldovan Supreme Court hearing on the case will take place on September 14, 2011. “I can hardly imagine that the Supreme Court will ratify these wrongful acts on September 14. If they are not unwound, then I am seriously concerned by the harm that this unfortunate judicial precedent will cause to the security of ownership rights in Moldova for investors. The stakes in this dangerous game are Moldova’s relationship with international investors and the international community including bodies such as EU, EBRD, IMF and the World Bank,” said Alexander Turcan, partner of Turcan Cazac Law Firm, legal counsel to the European Investors. The group of investors comprises six European entities and people from Slovenia and Holland (Adriatic Fund B.V., Druga d.o.o., Factor Banka d.d., KIG d.d., Milena Logar, and Venture Holding B.V.) The investors have been shareholders in MAIB since 2006/2007.