Ilyashev & Partners Successfully Represents Private Company in a Real Estate Auction Dispute

Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm successfully represented the interests of a private company in a dispute with the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office regarding the invalidation of the real estate auction results and the contract of sale of non-residential premises.

In 2020, the private company purchased a small-scale privatization object, i.e., a group of inventory assets with a total area of over 3,000 sq. m, located in the Holosiivskyi District of Kyiv, from the Communal Property Fund of the Kyiv Regional Council for UAH 75 million at a public electronic auction. According to the auction results, the private company lawfully concluded the contract of sale of real estate with the communal institution.

In 2021, disagreeing with the auction results, the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office filed a claim against the Communal Property Fund and the private company to invalidate the electronic auction results, the contract of sale and cancel the state registration of the company’s ownership of non-residential premises. In its claim, the Prosecutor’s Office alleged that the privatization of the communal property object, the inventory and real estate appraisal were carried out unlawfully, and therefore the auction results are incorrect.

In order to protect the client’s interests, Ilyashev & Partners’ attorneys have collected irrefutable evidence that the auction complied with applicable law norms. The Kyiv Regional Council, in its turn, had no objections to the electronic auction results and provided documentary evidence that the privatization of communal property object was carried out in compliance with all rules and regulations. Trial and appeal courts accepted arguments of Ilyashev & Partners’ team and substantiated that there are no grounds for cancelling the auction results.

Disagreeing with the conclusions of the courts of previous instances, the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office filed a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court claiming an alleged conspiracy among the electronic auction participants. The Supreme Court’s Commercial Cassation Court remanded the case for a retrial.

During the new hearing of the case, Ilyashev & Partners’ attorneys proved that there are no grounds for cancelling the auction results and the contract of sale of property, and the arguments of the Prosecutor’s Office do not confirm the allegation that the electronic auction participants were associated. On 25 April 2024, the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal agreed with the opinion of Ilyashev & Partners’ Dispute Resolution team and fully dismissed the claim of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

The case was handled by Oleh Trokhymchuk and Andrii Konoplia, Counsels and Co-Heads of Dispute Resolution Practice.