PRESS RELEASE: Lawless actions of Bureau of Economic (In) Security of Ukraine: AMIC ENERGY will appeal against groundless and illegal seizure of real estate

On August 18, 2022, the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (BES) published information about the arrest of the real estate of "one of the largest gas station networks." According to the information from the State Register of Property Rights for Immovable Property, the object of this fabricated attack by BES is an enterprise with foreign investments "AMIK UKRAINE". The reason for the decision to arrest was the company’s alleged tax evasion during 2015-2022, as well as its "connection" with the aggressor country.

"AMIK UKRAINE" considers both accusations groundless and unfounded and sees in BES’ actions the signs of deliberate illegal pressure on a foreign investor. "AMIK UKRAINE" strongly disagrees with BES’s arbitrary accusations and will appeal against the illegal seizure to the court of appeal.

The situation is particularly outrageous in view of the fact that, while accusing "AMIK UKRAINE" of tax evasion, BES detectives deliberately, or due to incompetence, have failed to analyze the publicly available audited financial statements of the company. Notably, even a superficial analysis of this open information irrevocably refutes all the accusations made by the investigators.

The attempt to justify the seizure of the property of "AMIK UKRAINE" through "tax violations" looks especially absurd considering the data of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, according to which the company is one of the five largest taxpayers per liter of fuel sold.

No less far-fetched and baseless is the BES argumentation regarding the alleged Russian beneficiaries of "AMIK UKRAINE": in the investigation materials, available to the company’s lawyers, the accusation of connections with the citizens of the aggressor country is based on a shocking piece of "irrifutable evidence" – a five-year-old printout of a paid-for article published in 2017.

At the same time, while arbitrarily accusing of having ties with Russia a company, which has been continuously providing assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the first day of large-scale aggression, the detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security deliberately ignore the fact that, according to the public financial statements, "AMIK UKRAINE" did not make any payments of funds to beneficiaries from the russian federation or any persons related to them.

"There is no logic in the fabricated and illegal accusations of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine. Today, when our company, together with all citizens of Ukraine, is making every effort to defeat the Russian aggressor, BES’s arbitrary actions are putting enormous pressure on the activities of an enterprise that is strategically important to Ukraine, creating a threat of fuel shortages and, as a result, an increase in its price, exposing thousands of Ukrainian families to the risk of losing their jobs and vital income," said the Director General of "AMIK UKRAINE", Audris Stropus.

The Austrian office of AMIC ENERGY also insists on the legal inconsistency and fallacy of BES’s accusations, especially in the context of the war in Ukraine.

"AMIC ENERGY is constantly contributing to the Ukrainian economy by investing in business development, creating jobs, importing European fuel and introducing European standards of customer service. The struggle of the Ukrainian people for their freedom and independence requires support, which we do not stop providing every day, and will continue until the absolute Victory of Ukraine, despite the unfounded accusations against our company," said Günter Mayer, Managing Director of AMIC ENERGY.

"At the same time, if any damage is done to us or to our business reputation, as an Austrian investor we will protect our rights both at the national and international levels, including, if necessary, by filing claims to the international investment arbitration and the ECHR" – added Günter Mayer.

Context

In 2014, the Austrian company Amic Energy made an important strategic decision to invest in Central and Eastern Europe, as a result of which the company acquired a gas station network in Ukraine from the Russian Lukoil group. On May 26, 2015, the official presentation of the Amic Energy brand in Ukraine (FDI "Amic Ukraine") took place.

Official information about the deal refutes BES’s argument regarding the "mock" change of ownership. Information source about the deal: https://www.iflr1000.com/Deal/Profile/8434#undefined

The beneficial owners of AMIC ENERGY are the following individuals: Günter Mayer, Austria, Johannes Klesl-Norberg, Austria, Andreas Zernetz, Austria and Gillen Philip Andrew, UK.

For many years, the Enterprise has not taken any measures to separate assets and create new legal entities. A foreign investment enterprise (FIE) "AMIK UKRAINE" is the only unitary Enterprise in the fuel market, the owner of all property, a large taxpayer with transparent tax control for the State Tax Service of Ukraine. This very clearly indicates that the Enterprise has never pursued the goal of tax evasion by separating economic activities.

After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the beginning of the active phase of the aggressive war, "AMIK UKRAINE" did not stop working for a day, providing fuel not only to the country’s critical infrastructure, but also to consumers at gas stations, serving more than 50 thousand customers daily.

Since February 24, the enterprise has not stopped helping units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police of Ukraine, the Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the Territorial Defense, the Military Administrations and territorial communities of different regions, having already donated more than 250,000 liters of fuel. The enterprise also supplies the Ukrainian Defense Forces with scarce aviation fuel, helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine to protect the sky of Ukraine from rocket attacks by the aggressor.

Despite the legislative changes related to the introduction of martial law, "AMIK UKRAINE" continues to pay wages to 71 mobilized employees of the company, realizing its social responsibility in this difficult time for the country.

The company continues to pay salaries to more than 2,000 employees on time.