Gabov and Shilo v Alfa Bank et al - District Court of Nicosia Case No 3596-2018 - Interim Judgment of 12 January 2023
Country
Year
2023
Summary
Within a dispute regarding a restructuring and shareholders agreement, a request for freezing the assets of Alfa Bank, a designated bank, was filed with the District Court of Nicosia. The Court noted at first that connection with Cyprus was very weak; two respondents were merely holding companies without substantial business, whereas others were persons acting merely as nominee directors and secretaries. It then took into consideration that the imposed sanctions prohibiting dealing with transferable securities and money-market instruments issued after 12 April 2022 (Article 1(2)(a) Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/327 of 25 Feb. 2022) affect only a small part of the activities of Alfa Bank. It also considered the fact that the majority of the bank's assets are within Russia, and therefore outside the scope of the imposed sanctions. It thus denied the request.