"Business" in the Odesa Chamber of Commerce and Industry elected a new head, but the previous head continues to fight for his return: an overview of events.

Since 1998, the Odesa Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been headed by Serhii Shuvalov, whose term ended at the beginning of 2024. However, as early as the fall of 2023, Shuvalov began to obstruct the holding of general meetings of members of the chamber, seeking to extend his tenure. He proposed to conduct the meeting through a written survey, which was against the statute of the chamber. The leader also pointed to the state of war and the lack of bomb shelters as reasons that made it difficult to hold meetings.

However, some members of the chamber insisted on holding the meeting. In response, Shuvalov appealed to the Commercial Court of the Odesa region with a request to prohibit the members of the Odesa Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry from making any decisions. The court partially satisfied Shuvalov's demands, prohibiting the election of new managers and changes to the charter, but allowed the meetings to be held. Two months later, in June 2024, this decision was overturned by the South-Western Commercial Court of Appeal.

It is worth noting that after the first court decision in April, a meeting was still held, at which more than a third of the members of the chamber (64 out of 179 representatives of enterprises) demanded that Shuvalov organize a new general meeting on June 7. Shortly before that, Shuvalov sent letters about the exclusion from the chamber of five enterprises that opposed his leadership. Since the meeting, the number of expelled members has increased to around 30, and it is interesting that requests from the Bar for a list of these companies have not received clear answers.

However, on August 19, the Commercial Court confirmed the termination of the powers of the leaders of the Odesa Regional Chamber of Commerce, including Serhiy Shuvalov (case No. 916/1959/24). The court recognized that its mandate ended on January 15, 2024, and any attempt to extend it is void. This court decision became legally binding.

In addition, the court recognized as invalid the documents referred to by the former manager, justifying his actions: "Amendments to the Charter of ORTPP, adopted at the meeting of the Council of the Chamber on January 15, 2024, did not undergo state registration in the prescribed manner, therefore, did not enter into force."

Therefore, it can be concluded that as of September 12, 2024, the Odesa Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry was managed by persons who did not have the authority. All actions regarding the exclusion and admission of new members are invalid, which is why the Odesa Chamber of Commerce and Industry led by ex-president Shuvalov had no reason to refer to the number of members at 208, instead of 178.

The general meeting of the organization was held on September 12, 2024, at which a new leadership was elected by voting. The president of the chamber was Mykola Kryklivy, general director of Amos LLC, the first vice president was Hanna Nesterenko, general director of GLASSRISE LLC, and the vice presidents were elected Stepan Boglia, general director of Plaske LLC, and Oleg Platonov, general director of GLASPAK LLC. .

After the election of a new member of the Council, the situation worsened. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine (CCI of Ukraine) refused to recognize the new leadership of the regional chamber, accusing him of "raider capture". The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine disconnected the Odesa organization from the "Electronic Chamber" system, which made it impossible to issue documents necessary for business. Access to servers, accounting programs and the Internet was blocked for the previous employees of Odesa RTPP, the website and other electronic documents were destroyed, and it takes a lot of time and resources to restore it.

Despite the long-term crisis in the Odesa Chamber, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine ignored the events in the south for a long time. Members of the organization and a lawyer repeatedly appealed to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine with a request to respond to the situation in Odesa, as the management did not want to hold meetings, as business representatives told the Ukrainian Information Service. In response to the lawyer's official request, the central chamber noted that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine does not interfere in the affairs of regional chambers.

After the first changes in 2024, initiated by Odesa business representatives, the central body began to actively intervene in the conflict: it announced inspections, declared the need to analyze the legal component of the fees, and organized meetings with businesses, to which the new composition of the Odesa Chamber Council did not receive invitations.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine blocked the work of the Odesa Chamber, and at a meeting on September 18, a decision was made to hold elections. The situation continues to escalate. The representatives of the new team stated that, if the work of the regional organization is not unblocked in the coming days, they plan to apply to the court with a demand to collect damages from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine.