Elektrim notches up victory against Eastbridge in Luxembourg court

A Luxembourg court has frozen the assets of Empik Centrum Investments, to protect the $12.5 million claim by Polish telecom and energy group Elektrim against Dutch group Eastbridge, owner of Empik. Earlier this year, a Polish court froze some of Elektrim's assets to protect a claim made against it by Eastbridge. The feud between the two stems from an agreement they signed in June 2000, according to which Elektrim was to pay Eastbridge $12.5 million in cash and $37.5 million in the form of shares, for a 50% stake in e-commerce company Easy-net. Elektrim claims that the agreement expired in January 2001, while Eastbridge responded by suing Elektrim, saying that the agreement is still binding. In April, a Warsaw court froze $37 million worth of Elektrim's assets as security for the lawsuit. (Rzeczpospolita, June 2-3, p. B3) T.J.