Co-Owners of Bulgarian Fuel Retailer Lock Horns Again

Business » ENERGY | July 18, 2011, Monday // 17:50
Bulgaria: Co-Owners of Bulgarian Fuel Retailer Lock Horns Again Denis Ershov has responded to a new media attack staged by rival shareholder Mitko Sabev. Photo by BGNES

A Monday letter of Denis Ershov to the media produced a new episode of the prolonged shareholder battle over Petrol Holding, a major fuel company in Bulgaria.

Ershov, a Russian national and co-owner of Petrol Holding, responded to a July 07 media assault of his rival, Mitko Sabev, focusing on the distant form of address of "foreign citizen Denis Ershov" and condemning Sabev's allegations that he attempted to "steal the company" through extensive manipulation of the law.

Ershov's statement also includes feedback from his lawyer asserting that Sabev's accusations are unfounded and reactionary and will be totally disregarded in the future.

On July 07, Sabev insisted that Ershov and his representatives had met with a number of notaries in a bid to negotiate the legalization of a false circumstance, namely the conduct of a general shareholders meeting.

"The motives and the goal of these actions are similar in nature to a spate of other steps taken by Denis Ershov- they seek to illegitimately replace the fully legitimate governing bodies of the Holding and to take over the company in an absolutely criminal way", Sabev insisted.

The scandal between Sabev and Ershov dates back to July 2010, when the controversial Russian businessman accused Sabev of representing him without due authorization at a meeting of the Supervisory Board which was reportedly held according to unannounced agenda.

Since then, the dispute between the two has been immensely aggravated, with Sofia and Varna-based courts handling numerous court actions brought by Sabev and Ershov.

Embezzlement charges involving different figures, as well as document fraud charges, have often been exchanged between the two high-profile businessmen.

The scandal has involved Bulgaria's Registry Agency, which has come under fire for "selectively" registering amendments to the company's file under external pressure.

In another episode of the saga, Petrol's bank accounts were misreported as frozen by court.

Bulgaria's Ministry of Justice stepped in to disprove the information released by Mitko Sabev.

At that time, the main point of contention was the legitimacy of the appointment of Ivan Kutevski as executive director of Petrol Holding AD.

In yet another episode of the court battle, the directors of Petrol Holding and its subsidiaries Petrol AD and Naftex Petrol, Orlin Todorov, Svetoslav Yordanov and Yordan Georgiev were temporarily removed from their posts.

The reason for the suspension of Petrol's executives was a trial initiated by Denis Ershov over alleged serious monetary damage inflicted to Naftex Petrol and Petrol Holding.

The long-standing shareholder feud is not likely to end soon, Bulgarian legal experts have said.

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Tags: Denis Ershov, Mitko Sabev, Petrol Holding, Petrol AD, fuel retailer, Registry Agency, Justice Ministry, general shareholders meeting

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