Addressing the Issue of Corporate Raiding in Ukraine

Abstract

The phenomenon of “raiding,” i.e., the unlawful establishment of control over the property or governing boards of an enterprise, as well as the seizure of its shares, has been reported in all countries of the world for many decades. This phenomenon has the most dangerous forms in the states with the underdeveloped economy and legal system, particularly in Ukraine. The paper aims to determine the areas for counteracting and overcoming corporate raiding in Ukraine and to provide proposals for improving the legislative framework for reliable protection against attacks on the enterprises’ property.

The information in the paper, including the geography of raider attacks, indicates a greater vulnerability of enterprises in the most economically developed regions, with extensive transport infrastructure and the prospects for various industries and sectors of the economy development. The state should take some steps to increase the level of enterprises protection against raider attacks. Thus, to improve the quality of preventing and combating corporate raiding, this paper argues the need to develop and adopt the Corporate Property Protection Code of Ukraine. The introduction of the raider attacks register will be an effective measure to warn potential investors and counterparties about the dangers of cooperation with certain companies. The state register should be bilingual (Ukrainian and English) and contain information on the attempts and cases of raider attacks on property and corporate business rights. Also for further innovations in starting a business, Ukraine must pay attention to New Zealand’s and Finland’s experience.

Keywords: economy, company, legislative framework, property of enterprises, raider attack, defense

JEL Classification: G34, K22, K25