In a rare decree, the Maltese Courts have denied a demand for a
warrant of prohibitory injunction due to the absence of a real
connecting link with Malta.
On the 26th March 2024, SBK Art LLC, a sanctioned
Russian subsidiary of Sberbank, applied to the Maltese Courts for a
warrant of prohibitory injunction against six respondents, made up
of one Maltese limited liability company called Open Pass Ltd, four
Dutch companies, Fortenova Group STAK Stichting, Fortenova Group
TopCo B.V., Iter STAK Stichting, and Iter Bidco B.V, and a Croatian
citizen, Pavao Vujnovac.
SBK and Open Pass were both holders of securities in the
Fortenova Group, a conglomerate with operations in food production,
retail chain management and agriculture, directly operating in
Southeast Europe, with its holding structure set up in the
Netherlands. Through the injunction, SBK sought an order to
restrain the sale of shares in the Fortenova Group to a newly
incorporated Dutch structure, in which
