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Wienk: Interblue's Successor Neither in U.S. Nor Swiss Trade Register
Friday 12 March 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, March 12 (TASR) - Neither the state of Washington trade register nor that of the Swiss canton of Zug contain any information on the transfer of rights from the U.S. garage-based Interblue Group to the Swiss-based Interblue Group Europe, Zuzana Wienk of the Alliance Fair-play told TASR on Friday.
"It follows from the available information that the Swiss Interblue Group Europe isn't the legal successor of Interblue Group LLC, which was originally registered in the state of Washington – or it hasn't fulfilled the fundamental duties to announce the transfer," said Wienk.
According to Wienk, the register in the state of Washington has confirmed that companies that go out of business usually announce their legal successor. Interblue Group hasn't provided any such information, however. Similarly, officials at the Swiss trade register told Wienk that the information on the transfer of legal rights would have to appear in their records.
The sale of Slovakia's surplus carbon-dioxide quotas to the Interblue Group at €5.05 per tonne was harshly criticised by the Opposition and received huge media attention because neighbouring countries sold their quotas directly to other states for €10 per tonne or even more, and Interblue's alleged headquarters in the U.S.A. were found to be located in a garage.
Environment Minister Jozef Medved announced earlier this month that the ministry, which sold the quotas, doesn't have enough evidence on the transfer of rights between the two companies; and therefore it considers the contract to be terminated. Medved also said that the ministry has prepared 35 million tonnes that were originally contracted to Interblue Group for sale.
Later on, however, someone called Milan Ruzicka from the Czech Republic convened a press conference in Bratislava and claimed to be the owner of Interblue Group Europe, as he allegedly bought 100 percent of the shares. Ruzicka didn't back up his claims with any documents, however.
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