On July 18, 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Trade filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region against Megapolis Distribution B. v. , writes Interfax .
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Megapolis Distribution BV, registered in the Netherlands, is the owner of the tobacco distributor Megapolis Group of Companies (supplies cigarettes, soft drinks, groceries, etc.). Previously, the Russian legal entity Megapolis Group of Companies was included in the list of economically significant organizations. It is known that the application has been accepted for proceedings, the first hearing in the case is scheduled for August 8.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade, by law, acts as a plaintiff in cases of suspension of corporate rights of foreign shareholders of companies from the list of economic entities under its jurisdiction. It is the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region that considers such claims based on jurisdiction.
EZO status allows Russian beneficiaries through the court to receive shares and shares of such companies into direct ownership, excluding foreign holding structures from the chain of owners, or transfer the right to them to someone else. In addition, the document makes it possible through the court to temporarily suspend the corporate rights of foreign holdings in relation to EZO, for example, to vote at meetings, receive dividends, dispose of shares and shares. To implement this possibility, it is necessary to apply to the court to suspend the exercise by a foreign shareholder of corporate rights in relation to the EZO.
JSC Trading Company Megapolis is 100% owned by the Dutch company Megapolis Distribution BV. The ultimate beneficiaries of Megapolis were Igor Kesaev and Sergey Katsiev, who owned 52.8% in the company. Such data was contained in the prospectus for the IPO of Mercury Retail Group in 2021, which is also co-owned by Kesaev and Katsiev.
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