The court session concerning the claim laid by Starwood Trading Ltd. of the UK against Metallurgical Works of Zlatoust took place in Chelyabinsk Region Court of Arbitration on September 12, 2006.

‘The judge decided to involve the third party yesterday; this is the director of the Bahamas offshore zone; the works was using him to conduct most of its transactions. The assistant to the judge is now trying to get in touch with this person who is allegedly in Chelyabinsk at the moment,’ said the spokesperson for Sovetnik Ltd., the legal representative of the British company.

Starwood Trading Ltd. placed a claim against Metallurgical Works of Zlatoust concerning supplies of faulty produce on May 10, 2006. According to the plaintiff, the works supplied them with four shipments of bad quality rolled metal and then compensated for the first two shipments voluntarily but disagreed on the terms of compensating for the other two shipments, which has now led to court proceedings.

‘The outcome will depend on to what extent we will be able to provide evidence of supplies having been faulty; the representatives of the works deny their guilt and refuse to make up for the damage voluntarily, even though we had meant to come to an out-of-court settlement,’ said the spokesperson for Sovetnik Ltd.

The next hearing has been scheduled for late September, yet it will depend on how quickly the plaintiff’s representatives contact the third party. According to the legal experts from Sovetnik, Metallurgical Works of Zlatoust has already tried procrastinating the time before; the representatives of the works, on their part, suggest off the record that the plaintiff might have falsified the evidence and ask for another preliminary court sitting. Their plea, however, was declined.