lyashev & Partners has successfully defended the interests of Municipal Enterprise International Airport Kyiv and Master-Avia LLC, which is engaged in the development and maintenance of the airport, in a dispute involving allegations that they had acted together to improperly restrict competition in the airport's ground handling market.
According to Ilyashev & Partners, "the dispute ... arose in connection with the conclusion back in 2014 of the Master Agreement for the provision of ground handling services to the aircraft between Master-Avia LLC and ME IA Kyiv, allegedly on the basis of which one of the handling companies, which previously operated at the airport, was denied a contract extension."
According to the firm, "in November 2018, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine issued Decision No. 635-р in case No. 136-26.13/20-17 on violation by Master-Avia LLC and ME IA Kyiv of the legislation on protection of economic competition and imposition of fines."
Ilyashev & Partners successfully appealed the AMCU’s decision -- and Ukraine's Supreme Court upheld that appeal. According to the firm, "by upholding the decisions in favor of the claimants issued earlier by the court of first instance and the court of appeal, the Supreme Court confirmed the legality of actions undertaken by Master-Avia LLC and ME IA Kyiv and revoked the AMCU’s decision to impose fines."
Finally, Ilyashev & Partners noted that "in 2010, ME IA Kyiv leased the entire property complex to Master-Avia LLC, except for the runway and social infrastructure facilities. The merger was [designed to] restructure the ME to make a profit and develop the company. Within the framework of the investment project, Master-Avia LLC has invested about USD 93 million in the construction of three terminals: international terminal A, terminal D for domestic flights and terminal B for business aviation, as well as passenger and ground services."
“Since these companies – following the merger allowed by the AMCU – became control-related companies, the Supreme Court agreed with the findings of the Economic Court of Kyiv and the Northern Economic Court of Appeal that the agreements concluded between them cannot be considered anti-competitive concerted actions," commented Ilyashev & Partners Partner Oleksandr Fefelov. "In addition, the Supreme Court confirmed that the text of the Master Agreement for the provision of ground handling services at the IA Kyiv contains no provisions aimed at restricting competition in the market of ground handling services at the airport.
