13 April 2016 Press releases

Court of Appeals [Oberlandesgericht] Hamm continues to conduct proceedings about the complaint for millions by Rustenburg

The OLG Hamm announced it the oral hearing that it will continue to conduct the proceedings about the appeal by Rustenburg Co. Ltd., represented by the law firm GvW Graf von Westphalen.  The court intends to obtain an expert report on English and Russian law to clarify the issues in dispute about the scope of the arbitral award by the London Court of International Arbitration and the arbitration agreement.

The court will announce on 15 June 2016 which experts will be mandated and which specific questions will be submitted to them.  The final decision about the admissibility of the complaint of Rustenburg Co. Ltd. will be made on the basis of the results of these legal opinions.  The timeframe for the preparation of the legal opinions is not yet firm.  

"We are pleased that the OLG Hamm has dealt very thoroughly with this case and is obtaining the assistance of experts in order to clarify the foreign law issues.  We are confident that the experts will confirm our understanding of the relevant legal principles and accordingly have good reasons to hope for a result of the case which will be favorable for our client," commented GvW Graf von Westphalen. 

GvW Graf von Westphalen first took over the mandate in the appellate instance. 

The complaint involves a failed joint venture between the Sintez-Group and the RWE Group in Essen for the joint purchase of the Russian electric power utility company TGK-2.  The complaint by the company Rustenburg Co. Ltd. against RWE was dismissed as inadmissible in the first instance, and Rustenburg Co. Ltd. has commenced appeal proceedings with GvW.  The personal complaint for damages against Dr. Großmann was admitted by the District Court [Landgericht, "LG"] Essen in March 2015.  The former RWE boss filed an appeal against that decision. 

GvW is advising Rustenburg with a team made up of lawyers from different offices consisting of Felix Prozorov-Bastians (Litigation, Russian Desk; Frankfurt), Dr Kurt Luka (Russian Desk; Hamburg) and Dr Julia Christine Pohl (Litigation; Frankfurt). 

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