Billionaire Vasily Anisimov Joined Battle for 38% of Kristall Distillery Equities
The interests of Vasily Anisimov and his company are represented by Filipp Ryabchenko, Senior Partner of the BIEL law firm.
The opposite side in the litigation is represented by Kamerton and Zernostroi owned by Valery Yakovlev. The above companies are current holders of the disputable equity package. Addison Investments Ltd, a Cyprus-based creditor-company with which the equities in question are pledged, is associated with the Coalco Group of Vasily Anisimov who is rated the 56th in the Forbes list of the most influential Russian businessmen (his estate is estimated at $1.2 billion). The litigation may end up with Vasily Anisimov becoming a new co-owner of Kristall, Moscow’s once largest distillery.
At the moment, attachment is imposed by the court on the equities in question as they are the issue in the litigation. It is to be noted that representatives of Vasily Anisimov do not confirm that he is interested in those equities and just say that there is only willingness to recover the loan once extended to the companies controlled by Valery Yakovlev. The latter denies through his representatives that he has anything to do with those funds referring to the fact that credit documents were signed without his knowledge. According to Valery Yakovlev’s legal defense, the above factor is in his favor, so they are interested in equities remaining under attachment throughout the litigation.
So, the lawyers of the parties in court hold different views on the possible outcome of the dispute. However, Filipp Ryabchenko, Senior Partner of the BIEL law firm, believes that his client has a chance to recover his funds or enforce the pledge.