MOSCOW, November 17 - RAPSI, Vladimir Yaduta. The U.S.-based Universal Trading & Investment Co. (UTICo), which has been unsuccessfully suing former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's United Energy Systems of Ukraine (UESU) for $18.3 million, has filed a lawsuit against her with a U.S. court.
A copy of the lawsuit was made available at the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI).
UTICo filed the lawsuit after a court dismissed its petition to participate as a third-party claimant in the dispute between Tymoshenko, the Swiss-based RosUkrEnrgo (RUE) and its co-owner Dmitry Firtash.
Tymoshenko filed a lawsuit in April against RUE and Firtash with the District Court for the Southern District of New York, claiming that the defendants and Russian Gazprom appropriated $1.7 billion.
Tymoshenko's lawsuit is connected with the so-called "gas conflict" in 2009.
UTICo, a U.S.-based company registered in the state of Massachusetts, said in its lawsuit that UESU's funds were illegally transferred to offshore areas, particularly Cyprus, through companies registered on the British Virgin Islands, Guernsey Island and the Isle of Man.
UTICo tried to bring its claim to the court under the dispute between Tymoshenko, RUE and Firtash. However, the company had to file a separate lawsuit after the U.S. court dismissed its petition in October.
