Court temporarily halts lease transfer for victory beach
Russian businessmen Nikolai Doroshenko and Sergei Polonsky are locked in a legal dispute over Sihanoukville’s Victory Beach following Mr. Polonsky’s release from prison last month, according to copies of court documents obtained Monday. The Preah Sihanouk provincial court has temporarily prevented Mr. Doroshenko from transferring the right of a 99-year lease his company holds for the 3,536 square meter beach area to a Taiwanese company because he allegedly violated the terms of a previous contract for the land with Mr. Polonsky, a former Russian real estate mogul. In a copy of the court’s ruling, it “provisionally forbid[s] Doroshenko Nikolai from selling, exchanging, leasing, mortgaging, transferring of right, hypothecating, gifting, making a will, bequeathing or donating the Victory Beach…including the building, port and a motorboat until the court completely rules on the merit of the case.” The court’s ruling, dated April 30 and signed by Kim Eng, deputy director of the provincial court, followed an April 18 motion filed on behalf of Mr. Polonsky. Victory Beach, located near the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in Bei commune, was awarded as a 99-year lease to Sea Snake Investment Group Co. Ltd., which is owned by Mr. Doroshenko. … He is wanted in Russia over charges of embezzling more than $180 million from investors in residential real estate projects in Moscow. Last month, a Cambodian court for the second time denied an extradition request from Russia. In Cambodia, he faces charges for his alleged role in assaulting six Cambodian boatmen off the coast of Sihanoukville in December 2012. Preah Sihanouk court officials have previously said that Mr. Polonsky’s trial has been indefinitely delayed, and on Monday declined to comment.
Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-temporarily-halts-lease-transfer-for-victory-beach-58598/
