Supreme Court Overturns SPP Win in Ducky's Promissory Notes (2)

Bratislava, 12 January (TASR) – The Supreme Court overturned on Monday a previous ruling of the Bratislava Regional Court issued in favour of the state-owned SPP gas utility in the case of the so-called Ducky's promissory notes, TASR learnt on the same day. The gas company will therefore have to honour the promissory notes in favour of the Cypriot company Stroden Management Limited. SPP announced that it will file an extraordinary appeal against the ruling. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court decided to uphold in full the promissory-notes payment order of the Bratislava Regional Court, dated from 17 May 1999, with Stroden having a full claim against SPP for reimbursement of legal costs. The amount involved is 350 million Czech crowns (€14.41 million). "SPP does not agree with the scandalous decision of the Supreme Court in the matter of the so-called Ducky's promissory notes, which overturned the previous ruling of the Bratislava Regional Court issued in favour of SPP. The company will continue to protect its rights and interests before the relevant courts and state authorities. Immediately after receiving the written version of the decision, SPP will file an extraordinary appeal," the gas utility said. According to SPP, neither the company's assets nor those of the Slovak Republic are in danger. At the same time, SPP stated that in this case the appeal has an automatic suspensive effect, meaning that the Cypriot letterbox company Stroden Management Limited cannot seize the SPP assets through distraint proceedings. The company will consider further legal steps after thoroughly reviewing the written reasoning of the decision. SPP maintains its long-standing position that all so-called Ducky's promissory notes were issued fraudulently and are all invalid without exception. So far, the company has not been obliged to pay any claims arising from the promissory notes. In all disputes concluded to date, courts have issued final rulings in favour of SPP. However, in November 2018 the Supreme Court had ruled in the matter against SPP. At that time, the company said it could lose €30 million and filed an appeal against the decision. In the 1990s, then-SPP company director Jan Ducky signed a number of promissory notes that were originally issued in favour of the Czech firm Sezooz Group. Ducky allegedly intended to pay for technology supplies for the gas utility with them. It is not known how many promissory notes he signed, their total value, or where they are located, as they were not recorded in the accounts of the SPP. In 1999, Ducky was murdered by an unknown perpetrator and the case has not been solved. NOTE: This story has been extended to include paragraphs 3-9 mf