On Monday, December 14, 2020, a subsidiary of Russia Bank, Southern Project LLC, at a so-called auction bought 100% of the shares of the Crimean Massandra winery. As the expert of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center Liudmyla Korotkykh notes, this illegal action is another episode in the general crime of the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. In addition, this should be reflected in the position of Ukraine in the case of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the East of Ukraine and in the annexed Crimea, which is being considered by the International Criminal Court.
“This illegal act is another episode in the general crime of the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. This should be reflected in the position of Ukraine in the case that is already being considered by the International Criminal Court on war crimes and crimes against humanity in the East of Ukraine and in the annexed Crimea”,- said Liudmyla.
The CTRC lawyer explained that since 2014, Ukraine has lost the ability to exercise effective control on the peninsula, including managing public and state property, which is Massandra and which Russia illegally nationalized and continues to illegally dispose of this property. Back in 2015, the Massandra winery was re-registered on the mainland of Ukraine, since it was important to keep this brand for Ukraine. Thus, today, in fact, there are two Massandra wineries.
In fact, the desire to sell the Massandra winery arose six months ago, when its organizational and legal form was changed to a joint stock company. Even then, the winner of the so-called auction was known. This is evidenced by the way this so-called auction was subsequently conducted. It was attended by 2 companies Southern Project – a subsidiary of Russia Bank, which has been under international sanctions since 2014 in connection with the occupation of Crimea, and Estate Group – a fake enterprise established in October this year with an authorized capital in the initial price – 5.3 billion rubles – was understated, as a result the Massandra winery was sold for 5, 327 billion rubles, taking into account the fact that the so-called auction step was 26.5 million rubles, then there was no competition in fact.
“The decision to sell Massandra is due to 2 factors, firstly, the concern requires significant financial investments for reconstruction, as stated by its representatives and which the republican budget does not have, and secondly, thus, the property, including lands in the occupied territory are transferred to private ownership, which, after de-occupation, may serve as an additional reason for applying to the courts against Ukraine. Of course, these transactions are legally worthless and should not be recognized, but the very fact of a lawsuit can already create certain inconveniences”,- said the expert of the CTRC.
Liudmyla Korotkykh also added that the Massandra concern is a complex of 11 thousand hectares in the south of Crimea and with a collection of more than 1 million bottles of wines, and these are significant resources, income from use, which the Ukrainian budget has not received for more than 6 years.
“It is important to take this into account when calculating the damage caused by the occupation of Crimea, you should also not forget about the lost profit when determining the amount of compensation. Since Massandra is under sanctions, it cannot export its products, participate in international competitions and exhibitions, all this is lost benefit”,- the lawyer commented.