The story that Elitexpert has been following consistently for several years now has received another — and far from final — court decision. The appellate court left unchanged the verdict in the case of the Dutch investment fund "Administrative Bureau LVV" against TSN, whose journalists linked the fund's assets to the former Minister of Internal Affairs of the Yanukovych era, Vitaliy Zakharchenko.
The key question that the investor's side insists on has never been answered by the court: Where is the documentary evidence of this connection? According to LVV representatives, there is no such evidence, and the statements themselves are a journalistic interpretation that has damaged the fund's business reputation.
This is a real estate object in the Obukhiv district of the Kyiv region, which has been under arrest for over ten years. It was the media version about the possible involvement of a sanctioned person, as the fund claims, that became the basis for the de facto blocking of the owner's right to dispose of his property.
During the appeal hearing, LVV representatives again provided the court with documents confirming the fund's ownership since 2012, as well as official responses from the Dutch government authorities regarding the absence of any sanction restrictions. However, the Northern Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
The foundation's lawyer, Viktoria Denyak, called the decision regrettable, but stressed that it does not mean the end of the fight. The foundation is preparing to appeal to the Supreme Court and other instances to prove its case.
LVV emphasizes that the case has long gone beyond a single trial. It is not only about reputational losses, but also about ten-year inability to fully use one's own assetwho became a hostage to public accusations without proven grounds.
This court decision left more questions than answers. And the confrontation between the investor and the media seems to be entering a new, even more complex and fundamental, phase.
More details in our video report.
