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A Kyiv Court Terminates an Attempted Illegal Takeover of Antonov, the Largest State-Owned Aircraft Producer in Ukraine, by an Official Appointed by Ukraine’s Ousted President, Viktor Yanukovych

News date: 4 September 2014

In its order of 3 September 2014, the Circuit Administrative Court in Kyiv upheld the powers of Antonov long-time chief executive, Dmytro Kiva, said the spokesman of Antonov counsel, Ilyashev & Partners. To wit, the Court barred the Registrar of Companies from making any changes to the records of Antonov that would result in dismissing Dmytro Kiva as Antonov chief executive officer and/or board member and appointing Sergiy Merenkov instead. The Court has put to rest the question of who is the actual CEO of the company by upholding the powers of Dmytro Kiva as the President and Chief Design Officer. Antonov 14,000-strong team can now breathe a sigh of relief and get back do their jobs instead of preparing to resist another “fake executive”, Ilyashev & Partners said. Under Section 382 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, contempt of court order or trying to obstruct the enforcement of the same is an offence punishable by imprisonment for a term of eight years. In May and in July 2014, Oleksandr Kalenkov, the Under-Secretary of Industrial Policy Ministry appointed in May 2013 by Ukraine’s ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, sanctioned the dismissal of Dmytro Kiva as the President of Antonov and appointed Sergiy Merenkov as a new interim President. It is useful to remember, however, that the Ministry of Industrial Policy was liquidated by the Cabinet on 23 March 2014 by merging it with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. On August 1 and September 3, security officers and employees kicked Sergiy Merenkov and his armed thugs off the company premises, frustrating an attempt of forced illegal takeover of Antonov. In 2006, Mr. Merenkov who was then an Antonov executive was fired for an unauthorized disclosure and denied any further access to sensitive information.