High Court threat by Russians to Bula e.g.m.

Russian directors of Bula Resources are expected to seek a High Court injunction on Monday preventing the calling of an extraordinary…

Russian directors of Bula Resources are expected to seek a High Court injunction on Monday preventing the calling of an extraordinary general meeting to dismiss them. Bula said yesterday it believed the two, Mr Alexandre Marichev and his wife Ms Tatyana Kirillova, had no grounds on which to seek an injunction and that it would fight it strenuously. The extraordinary meeting is scheduled to take place in Dublin next Wednesday.

The two Russian directors were unavailable for comment yesterday and the lawyers acting on their behalf, Adams, declined to comment.

Mr Marichev and Ms Kirillova joined the board of Bula in October 1994 as part of a deal between Bula and the Russian Corporation, in which they have a 48.9 per cent interest.

Bula paid $5.5 million (£3.5 million) and issued $4 million worth of shares to the Russian Corporation in exchange for an option over St per cent of a company called Aki Otyr This company owned an oil field in western Siberia valued at $ 180 million. The option entitled Bula to acquire the stake in exchange for issuing 274.5 million shares to the Russian Corporation.

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The deal collapsed earlier this year and, in mid April, Bula announced that it was calling an extraordinary general meeting to remove the two directors. The company's other Russian director, Mr Vladimir Tokarev, is not involved in the Aki Otyr deal an is not being asked to resign. Mr Tokarev is the chief executive of Bula's partner in another Russian join venture.

The deal between the Russian Corporation and Bula broke down after the Irish company became a ware of possible uncertainties concerning the Russian Corporation's shares in Aki Otyr.

John McManus

John McManus

John McManus is a columnist and Duty Editor with The Irish Times