David Davies represented Mr Sergei Maksimov, the former President and majority shareholder of VAB, a Ukrainian bank, in major contempt proceedings in the Commercial Court. Mr Maksimov was accused of dealing with assets in breach of worldwide freezing orders that had been granted against him and companies associated with him in support of claims for more than US$200 million brought in LCIA arbitration proceedings. The major disputed allegations of contempt against Mr Maksimov were dismissed by Mr Justice Hamblen following a four-day trial in which Mr Maksimov gave evidence by video link (PJSC VAB v. Maksimov [2014] EWHC 3771 (Comm)). In a further judgment, the judge went on to award Mr Maksimov 80% of his costs of the contempt proceedings since January 2014 (PJSC VAB v. Maksimov [2014] EWHC 4370 (Comm)) giving important guidance to litigants as to the appropriateness of bringing contempt applications in freezing order cases and the costs consequences should such applications fail or succeed merely on “technical” grounds.
The trial followed a series of interlocutory hearings considering Mr Maksimov’s Article 6 right to give evidence and participate in the contempt hearing following evidence given by him of a plot to have him assassinated in Ukraine.
David was instructed by McGuireWoods LLP (Walter White Jr., Hardeep Nahal and Chloe Steele).
