Updated 6:42 p.m. Moscow Time
MOSCOW, September 22 (RIA Novosti) – The Moscow city court upheld Monday an earlier ruling to seize a building in Moscow owned by a company co-founded by Ukrainian tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the courtroom.
The Elit-Holding company that owns the building has been seeking to reverse the property arrest, saying that Dnipropetrovsk Region governor Kolomoisky, ranked Ukraine's fourth richest person, has no relation to the company and its assets.
The company's representative in court, Natalya Soboleva, said Kolomoisky has never been a co-founder and held no shares in the company since 2008.
An investigator in the case said the information is currently being verified and will be considered in due course.
Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky's property in Moscow was seized on September 2 at the request of the Russian Investigative Committee. The committee said that the Elit-Holding company, the co-founder of which is Kolomoisky, owns an office building located in Moscow and the profit gained from letting its premises could be used by Kolomoisky to sponsor illegal activities in southeastern Ukraine.
In June, Russia issued arrest warrants for Kolomoisky, as well as Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, on charges of organizing murders and abductions, using banned means and methods of warfare and preventing journalistic activities.
In connection with the events in southeast Ukraine, the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Kolomoisky, accusing him of committing crimes against civilians in his country and sponsoring a number of Ukrainian armed groups.
