SCM, a company owned by Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, has filed an appeal against a ruling by the District Court of Nicosia (Cyprus) to freeze his assets for $820 million, Financial Times has reported, with reference to SCM.

According to the newspaper, a hearing on the case is scheduled for February 27. SCM representatives "strongly objected" to the decision made by the court. As reported, the Cyprus court ruled to freeze the assets of Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov for $820.5 million in the Ukrtelecom case. Ukrainian media have also revealed that the court has banned Akhmetov from spending more than 20.000 euros per month.

The decision by the District Court of Nicosia related to Akhmetov and nine other parties was made on December 27 in the case on the sale of the telecoms group Ukrtelecom to Akhmetov's SCM Group. Raga, which is owned by Denys Horbunenko, a former Ukrainian banker, has been pursuing Akhmetov and others seeking full payment for the sale of the telecoms group. Raga said it sold Ukrtelecom to Akhmetov for $860 million in 2013, with Akhmetov paying $100 million upfront but nothing since.

Meanwhile Reuters reported that a Dutch court has issued a provisional order to freeze the Netherlands-based companies of the flagship business group owned by Ukraine’s richest man in connection with a long-running $820 million lawsuit. A Dutch court has now issued a provisional ruling to freeze SCM’s Netherlands-registered businesses, which include Ukraine’s largest steel company Metinvest and largest private power and coal producer, DTEK.

Raga’s representative sent Reuters a copy of the ruling on Monday. The decisions are not publicly available, but Reuters requested a copy of the ruling from the court on Tuesday.
SCM said on Tuesday it was not aware of the Dutch court decision.

“As far as the work of the SCM group’s assets is concerned, they continue to work as usual,” it said in an emailed statement. “The entities of SCM group will also vigorously defend themselves against baseless claims by Raga Establishment Limited that gave rise to issuance of the interim order,” SCM said on Friday.

The latest court orders against Akhmetov and SCM follow a UK court’s December decision to freeze the worldwide assets of Ukraine’s second- and third-richest men, Ihor Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Bogolyubov, in an unrelated case.