Description Of Legal Dispute
This investor-State treaty arbitration is being brought under a bilateral investment treaty between Belarus and Ukraine. The claim is for the wrongful expropriation of the foreign investor’s steel tube factory by Belarus and the foreign investor’s illegal imprisonment for a period of 6 years in a hard labor camp for no good reason.
The notice of dispute for this case is available online here:http://www.italaw.com/sites/default/files/case-documents/italaw1607.pdf
Claimant was involved in negotiations with Belarus to settle the dispute which have failed. Claimant now requires additional funds to pay for the fees of ICSID and the arbitral tribunal that has jurisdiction to hear his case. Unfortunately, the funding of an investor-State arbiration is very expensive. The arbitral tribunal fees and the ICSID fees alone cost, on average, USD 700,000. While Mr. Mykhailenko’s lawyers are assisting, an additional USD 500,000 needs to be raised to see it through to its end.
What Happened?
Mr. Mykhailenko began his investments in Gomel, Belarus, in 1999, creating the country’s first factory for the production of cold-shaped seamless steel pipes for both the domestic and export markets. The business did well and came to employ 50 Belorussians and was expanding until 17 May 2005, when armed officers of the State Security Agency of Belarus (the Belarus KGB) showed up, unannounced, at the factory in Gomel, and arrested Mr. Mykhailenko at his place of business.
The Belarus KGB falsely accused him of impersonating the Director of the factory in Gomel, and when he would not confess since the statement was untrue, they held him in detention for 11 months in insalubrious conditions, allowing him very little contact with the outside world.
New charges were brought against him after nine of the eleven months of preliminary detention, and the initial criminal charge was abandoned. The new charges were also ludicrous. For instance, Belarus’ prosecutor accused Mr. Mykhailenko of failing to repay a bank loan although the bank itself provided an affidavit that loans were always paid until he was detained by the Belarus KGB and could obviously not do so.
The judicial procedure that followed in Belarus was a farce that was criticized by human rights lawyers in the country. For instance, the Belarus KGB stopped the judge when it did not like the direction the proceedings were heading. In a travesty of justice, the judge expropriated Mr. Mykhailenko’s factory and sentenced him to six years in a hard labor camp, the maximum punishment available in the criminal code, despite Mr. Mykhailenko’s lack of any previous record and the fact that he had done nothing wrong.
Despite appeals and the intervention of the Ukrainian embassy, nothing could be done, and Mr. Mykhailenko was forced to spend six years in detention and his factory was expropriated with no compensation.
A third-party funder previously agreed to fund this case but backed down due to a disagreement concerning witnesses. William Kirtley, who serves as legal counsel in the case, indicates that it “should be impossible for this case to lose if an arbitral tribunal with integrity is selected,” and that “I will be very glad to be one of the first investors in this case. The only potential issue I see at this time is enforcement, since it is unknown whether Belarus will willingly respect the arbitral tribunal’s decision, as it is obliged to do under international law.”
Please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Mykhailenko or his lawyers if you would like to learn more about his case, and we thank you in advance for pledging to support it. If a single entity would like to fund the entirety of the case please let Mr. Mykhailenko know, since the terms of funding are not set in stone.
Country Where Your Dispute Is Located
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United States
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How Much Litigation Funding Do You Want To Raise?
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$500,000.00
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Headline For Your Litigation Crowdfunding Campaign
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Very Strong Case Against Belarus
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Description Of Your Legal Dispute
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This investor-State treaty arbitration is being brought under a bilateral investment treaty between Belarus and Ukraine. The claim is for the wrongful expropriation of the foreign investor’s steel tube factory by Belarus and the foreign investor’s illegal imprisonment for a period of 6 years in a hard labor camp for no good reason.
The notice of dispute for this case is available online here:http://www.italaw.com/sites/default/files/case-documents/italaw1607.pdf
Claimant was involved in negotiations with Belarus to settle the dispute which have failed. Claimant now requires additional funds to pay for the fees of ICSID and the arbitral tribunal that has jurisdiction to hear his case. Unfortunately, the funding of an investor-State arbiration is very expensive. The arbitral tribunal fees and the ICSID fees alone cost, on average, USD 700,000. While Mr. Mykhailenko's lawyers are assisting, an additional USD 500,000 needs to be raised to see it through to its end.
What Happened?
Mr. Mykhailenko began his investments in Gomel, Belarus, in 1999, creating the country's first factory for the production of cold-shaped seamless steel pipes for both the domestic and export markets. The business did well and came to employ 50 Belorussians and was expanding until 17 May 2005, when armed officers of the State Security Agency of Belarus (the Belarus KGB) showed up, unannounced, at the factory in Gomel, and arrested Mr. Mykhailenko at his place of business.
The Belarus KGB falsely accused him of impersonating the Director of the factory in Gomel, and when he would not confess since the statement was untrue, they held him in detention for 11 months in insalubrious conditions, allowing him very little contact with the outside world.
New charges were brought against him after nine of the eleven months of preliminary detention, and the initial criminal charge was abandoned. The new charges were also ludicrous. For instance, Belarus’ prosecutor accused Mr. Mykhailenko of failing to repay a bank loan although the bank itself provided an affidavit that loans were always paid until he was detained by the Belarus KGB and could obviously not do so.
The judicial procedure that followed in Belarus was a farce that was criticized by human rights lawyers in the country. For instance, the Belarus KGB stopped the judge when it did not like the direction the proceedings were heading. In a travesty of justice, the judge expropriated Mr. Mykhailenko's factory and sentenced him to six years in a hard labor camp, the maximum punishment available in the criminal code, despite Mr. Mykhailenko’s lack of any previous record and the fact that he had done nothing wrong.
Despite appeals and the intervention of the Ukrainian embassy, nothing could be done, and Mr. Mykhailenko was forced to spend six years in detention and his factory was expropriated with no compensation.
A third-party funder previously agreed to fund this case but backed down due to a disagreement concerning witnesses. William Kirtley, who serves as legal counsel in the case, indicates that it "should be impossible for this case to lose if an arbitral tribunal with integrity is selected,” and that "I will be very glad to be one of the first investors in this case. The only potential issue I see at this time is enforcement, since it is unknown whether Belarus will willingly respect the arbitral tribunal’s decision, as it is obliged to do under international law."
Please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Mykhailenko or his lawyers if you would like to learn more about his case, and we thank you in advance for pledging to support it. If a single entity would like to fund the entirety of the case please let Mr. Mykhailenko know, since the terms of funding are not set in stone.
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Featured Image For Your Litigation Funding Campaign
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End Date Of Your Litigation Crowdfunding Campaign
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2017-01-11
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How Much Compensation Can You Receive If Your Case Wins?
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$40,000,000.00
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Percentage Of Future Potential Compensation You Are Offering As A Reward (Contingent Fee)
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15% Of Amount Recovered
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| AUTOMATIC CALCULATIONS |
Estimated Returns Of Investors Per Dollar Funded
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$12.00
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Estimated Total Reward Offered
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$6,000,000.00
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Litigation Crowdfunding Campaign Author
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Invest4Justice Administrator
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International arbitration case analysis is provided to Invest4Justice by the lawyers of the International Arbitration Attorney Network. All other legal advice is provided by Aceris Law LLC.
Return of $12.00 per $1 : Very Strong Case Against Belarus
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