Businessman Somkhishvili, who is demanding $100 million from Kyiv, used eight different Russian passports to cross the border –Ukrainian Ministry of Justice

“Upon confirmation of the authorized bodies, the Ministry of Justice learned that Tamaz Somkhishvili was a citizen of the Russian Federation, and there is no information on revocation or deprivation of his Russian citizenship. In addition, according to the information available to the Ministry of Justice from the Administration of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Tamaz Somkhishvili repeatedly used eight different passports of a citizen of the Russian Federation to cross the state border of Ukraine until 2018,” the edition quotes the ministry's response.

The deputy minister notes that Somkhishvili, as a person associated with the aggressor state and deprived of a residence permit in Ukraine, is subject to a moratorium on the fulfillment of material requirements.

“Pursuant to Part 1, Clause 1 of Government Resolution No. 187, a moratorium has been established on the fulfillment of monetary and other obligations with creditors being Russian citizens, except for those legally residing in Ukraine. According to the information received from the State Migration Service of Ukraine, a decision was made to cancel Tamaz Somkhishvili's temporary residence permit, there is no confirmed information that Tamaz Somkhishvili ‘resides on the territory of Ukraine on legal grounds’, the document says, a photocopy of which was also published by Telegraf.

In response to the editorial inquiry, Mudraya said that she did not know whether the Kyiv City State Administration and the Kyiv City Council were using this information in the lawsuit against Somkhishvili in the Northern Economic Court of Appeal in Kyiv.

"The Ministry of Justice is not a party to the case, so it has no information about the process of forming the ‘foundation’ of the position of the Kyiv City State Administration and the Kyiv City Council," she replied.

The Deputy Minister also added that the Ministry of Justice has not received any requests from UK authorities regarding Somkhishvili.

"The Ministry of Justice has no appeals/letters from the authorities or diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in support of Tamaz Somkhishvili," the letter to the Telegraf editorial board reads.

Context:

In 2007, Kyiv Terminal, the company owned by Somkhishvili, won a tender for the reconstruction of Kharkiv Square in Kyiv, but the work was never carried out and the investment agreement was terminated in 2013. According to the supplemental agreement, Kyiv Terminal had to develop a mechanism for compensation within 30 days, but it failed to provide any estimates within three years.

In 2016, Barguzino Energy Trading, a Cypriot offshore company with anonymous owners, filed a lawsuit against Kyiv Terminal demanding to repay a debt of $14 million plus penalties for another $14 million. The Kyiv Economic Court upheld the claims of the Cypriot company.

The case is currently being considered by the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal in Kyiv.