Lavrynovych & Partners and lawyers from DLA Piper's Ukraine office have defended Swissport International in the Kiev Economic Court against Ukraine International Airlines, which claimed that Swissport International violated a purchase and sale agreement.
The dispute arose in 2012 when UIA accused Swissport International of breach of contract. The courts of first instance and appeal agreed with UIA, and granted the company full control over Swissport Ukraine. The Supreme Economic Court reversed the decision, however, and remanded the case back to the lower court with new instructions. The second time around led to a different result, as the Kiev Economic Court completely dismissed UIA’s claim against Swissport International and returned 70.6% of Swissport Ukraine to the parent company.
Swissport International provides ground services for around 224 million passengers and 4.1 million tons of cargo a year. The company is active at 263 airports in 45 countries on five continents and generates consolidated operating revenue of USD 3.4 billion.
Caroline Buttes, Senior Legal Counsel of Swissport International, commented that: "We hope that this success story will find its continuation in the appellate court, but now I am grateful to the team of DLA Piper for good news and great work on the project for two years."
The Lavrynovych & Partners' team was led by Partner Stanislav Skrypnyck, assisted by Senior Associate Arthur Kiyan and Associate Anastasiia Borysenko. The DLA Piper team was led by Managing Partner Margarita Karpenko, working with Legal Director Alla Kozachenko, Senior Associate Michael Byelostotskyy, and lawyer Tatyana Zamedyanska. Karpenko explained, of the two firms working on behalf of Swissport International, that, "we both were litigating for the benefit of the client and worked as one team." For his part, Byelostotskyy was both pleased with the result and optimistic about its significance. "We found that a panel of judges carefully reacted to review the case, examined in detail all the circumstances and evidence. Hopefully this approach will be fundamental and Ukrainian judges to further demonstrate the same integrity and consistency. "