Cases

Masha and the Bear postcard case set for new trial

The Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine has partially upheld the claim of Masha and Medved LLC to an individual entrepreneur for collection of UAH 36,540 of the compensation for violation of proprietary copyrights. It was found that a representative of the plaintiff had purchased for UAH 12.35 in a shop owned by the respondent Masha and the Bear greeting card containing, without the plaintiff’s authorization, images of the cartoon’s audio-visual work. Referring to the fact that the number of postcards sold to the plaintiff is, according to the evidence produced, only one copy, the courts did not take into account the fact that the mentioned circumstance by which the plaintiff confirmed the existence of just the fact of the copyright violation, gave no reason to believe that the violation of the rights was limited by this sale. The Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine overturned the decisions of the courts, and ordered the case be heard in a new trial.

Deutsche Bank is fined for violating US sanctions

Germany’s largest bank, Deutsche Bank, has agreed to pay a fine of USD 258 million to American regulators for having violated US sanctions against Syria and Iran. Under the deal, the bank’s management will also have to conduct an independent inspection and dismiss the six employees involved in the scheme to get around US sanctions.

The US suspected Deutsche Bank of “performing non-transparent actions and using non-transparent practices” back in 1999–2006, when conducting transactions amounting to USD 10.9 million with enterprises from Iran, Libya, Syria, Myanmar and Sudan.

Currency peg in loan declared illegal

The High Specialized Court of Ukraine has declared the currency peg in a loan agreement between Porsche Mobility LLC and a borrower to be illegal.

The contested transaction was closed in the period the ban on consumer loans in foreign currency was in effect, and so the terms of the loan agreement regarding determining the currency of payment at the exchange rate equivalent to USD contradicts part 1 of Article 11 of the On Consumer Rights Protection Act, which was rightly taken into account by the Сourt of Appeal. Moreover, the Court sent for review the decision of the Court of Appeal, which cancelled the loan agreement. The borrower borrowed UAH 145,200 at 9.9% per annum for 60 months, and it is necessary to understand what debt is to be repaid.

Foreign currency consumer loans were banned in 2011, but leasing companies and financial companies affiliated with importers and developers granted car and real estate loans with a currency peg.