24 June 2003 02:26
Business in Brief: License Transfer Battle
MOSCOW -- Canadian Archangel Diamond Corp. lost its appeal against LUKoil's subsidiary Arkhangelskgeoldobycha in
the arbitration court of the Northwest Federal District.
A decade ago two firms and an off-shore company IBME formed a joint venture to dig diamonds in Verkhotina, an area in
the Arkhangelsk region, that is believed to contain $5 billion worth of diamonds. But for the last five years the
Canadians -- who invested $30 million in the venture -- have been fighting in courts with their Russian partners for the
license transfer.
On June 16 the court ruled that the 1994 agreement between the partners that approved the license transferal from the
Russian to the Canadian firm is invalid because it contained a fake signature of a Russian partner.
The ruling leaves the Canadian firm with one last opportunity to fight for its investment in the diamond-soaked
province -- appeal to the Supreme Arbitration Court.
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RUSSIA IN FACTS
