Estonian real estate developer Hillar Teder is finding himself target of claims that his business in Ukraine has not been above board, writes Äripäev.
The claims against Teder who is one of the businessmen who built up the O’KEY retail chain in Ukraine and Russia originate from the Ukraine Suppliers’ Association that a week ago published an article in proximanews.net under the headline “Adventures of an Estonian fraud in Ukraine.”
In the article, the association claims that the failed business of O’KEY hypermarkets in Ukraine may create a scandal in Europe, says that Teder is a fraud and responsible for bankrupting hundreds of Ukraine companies.
According to the article, Teder was responsible for the fact that when O’KEY closed its hypermarkets in Ukraine in 2009 because of the economic crisis and huge losses, the company still owes money to hundreds of suppliers, employees and the local tax authority.
The article’s authors claim that O’KEY owed Ukraine companies over 10 million euros plus 0.8 million euros to the tax authority.
Aleksei Dorochenko, the editor-in-chief of proximanews.net, has also set up a local association of companies that have become victim of Teder.
In 2010 he visited also Estonia to collect information about Teder’s activities.
Commenting the claims, Teder said that these were journalistic exaggerations.
“Of course, there are many things taking place in Ukraine, but this is true for most countries in the world. Ukraine is a good country that has nice people and where the state support businesses and tries to attract investors.”
Toomas Hõbemägi
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