Ukrainian billionaires, Henadiy Boholyubov and Ihor Kolomoyskyy, via Mantara Holding, a company close to the their jointly-owned Privat Group, may be in for a fight over Ukrainian locomotive-maker, Luhanskteplovoz, with Russian billionaire, Iskander Makhmudov.

Mantara Holding filed a lawsuit with the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) to cancel the sale of Luhanskteplovoz to Transmashholding, Russia’s largest maker of locomotives and rail equipment, which is owned in part by Makhmudov.

According to Millenium Capital analysts, Privat “seems to be determined to embark on the protracted litigation proceedings to void the privatization sale results.” Mantara Holding is reportedly willing to pay as much as UAH 600mn (about $77 million) for Lukanskteplovoz compared to the UAH 410mn (about $52 million) paid by Transmashholding. In fact, Transmashholding bid only slightly above the original asking price of UAH 400 million when the tender was held in mid-June for a 76.001% stake in the Ukrainian rail-maker.

In Boholybov and Kolomoyskyy’s corner: Serhiy Tihipko, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, who stepped in this week to express concern over the transparency of the Luhanskteplovoz sale. According to Millenium, this may up their chances of taking back the asset from Russian interests.

Yet another round in Ukraine vs. Russia.

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