Now dear readers, as I wrote some months ago, Ms Tymoshenko lodged a law suit in the USA against RosUkrEnergy over alleged misdeeds very similar, as I pointed out at the time, to misdeeds she was quite capable of carrying out when she ran Unified Energy Systems (of Ukraine) and throwing stones in glass houses was not necessarily a good idea in a nation where counter-suits are habitual. Well guess what?
You have to say the law suit she submitted reads as though it was written by somebody not overly conversant with the fact that every word must be chosen carefully in any litigation process, but that is an issue for Ms Tymoshenko and the US Courts to tackle at a later stage.
Suffice to say it reads as though it was written by somebody with at best, only a passing interest in law. I have seen far more accomplished legal writing in standard contracts to be honest.
Ms Tymoshenko, until recently has always maintained UES had no debts to anybody, but however has conceded that there are debts to Russia though not to the $405.5 million Russia claims. Her exact words when forced to admit there was indeed a debt contrary to all her previous statements “Look at Ukrainian and Russian laws and you will understand that no debt can be reckoned for 15 years. Then again, the debt has never been the size cited.” One wonders why there was a need to lie about it in the first place then.
Anyway, the US Southern District Court has suspended the legal action against RosUkrEnergy temporarily having now received this legal action against Ms Tyomshenko and UES from a US registered company called Universal Trading and Investment Co (UTICo).
It seems that inherently, using the US RICO laws (which are probably quite difficult to enforce outside the USA), will only lead to one alleged Ukrainian racketeer using the same laws against another. No honour amongst racketeers eh?
Still, the US won’t have to go far to hear from Ms Tymoshenko’s former business partner and ally. He is still sat in a US jail for money laundering and would probably fancy a change of scenery and a day out.
You sometimes wonder whether there is any circumspection whatsoever amongst these people when pursuing their personal spats in the courts (domestic or foreign.) Now she will face legal action not only in Ukraine but also the USA, and an action that could well rake up old evidence against her in relation to her former business partner who was convicted and jailed in the US system.
I hate to be the one to say I told her so (not that she would read my ruminations). Glass houses and stones and all that!
Circumspection - a word for all Ukrainian politicians to understand before embarking on any actions, particularly in foreign courts.