Solar energy producer TIU Canada has filed a statement seeking to disqualify three judges of Pivdenny economic court of appeals appointed to hear an illegal disconnection case against Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (NFP).
“The challenge is intended to replace potentially biased judges with unbiased ones,” the company said in a press release circulated on Friday.
TIU Canada argued its distrust by the fact that judges Korsak, Popikova and Yevsikov, whose challenge the company is seeking, had previously ruled in favor of businessman Ihor Kolomoisky, who controls NFP, in the case against the state-owned PrivatBank, admitting that they would not be able to consider the case related to this enterprise without bias.
TIU Canada President Michael Yurkovich, quoted by the press service, finds it impossible to count on an impartial hearing when judges have a track record of ruling in favor of a U.S.-sanctioned oligarch.
As reported, the 10.5 MW solar power plant was disconnected from the power grid by NFP in March 2020. TIU Canada said that NFP took advantage of the fact that the SPP was connected to a substation located on its territory, and explained the need for disconnection by repair work. The shutdown caused the company in excess of EUR1.5 million losses, which continue to grow.
As a result, Ekotekhnik Nikopol LLC (TIU Canada) filed a claim against NFP with the Kyiv Economic Court. In the middle of February, the company said it would challenge a January 26 court ruling that rejected the company’s claims against NFP.
