July 2020 – Kostiantyn Likarchuk, Managing Partner of Kinstellar's Kyiv office and firm-wide Head of Dispute Resolution, was recently instructed as an expert on Ukrainian law by a successful defendant in a multi-billion-dollar dispute in the English Commercial Court.
Valued at over USD 2 billion, the complex proceedings involved wide-ranging accusations of fraud made by Mr Vitaliy Gaiduk and Mr Sergei Taruta against Mr Oleg Mkrtchan. After an eight-week trial, the judge dismissed all of the claims against Mr Mkrtchan, with the exception of a single claim regarding a transfer of shares, which the judgment itself recognised were likely worthless.
The Court was pleased with the expert evidence on Ukrainian law that it heard during the proceedings, noting that the experts did their best to assist the Court.
This was a long-running dispute arising out of Ukraine, where proceedings against the defendants commenced in 2016 following one of the largest commercial transactions in Ukrainian history. The case was also featured in The Lawyer's Top 20 cases of 2019.
Kostiantyn Likarchuk was instructed by Covington & Burling (UK), which served as counsel for the defence.
Please see Covington & Burling's press release here and the Judgment here.
Originally published 15 July, 2020
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