Taras Miroshnychenko

Head of International Corporate Law and Fintech Practice

E-mail

miroshnychenko@prikhodko.com.ua

Phone numbers

Expert in fintech, crypto, and international corporate law with over 20 years of experience. Specializes in crypto licensing (VASP/CASP), iGaming business support, and international structuring, asset protection, and OSINT analytics for risk assessment and due diligence.

Corporate disputes in Ukraine

A corporate dispute rarely begins with the words “we are going to court.” Usually, everything looks much more peaceful: partners stop agreeing on decisions, the director starts acting independently, an investor wants to control expenses, and one of the founders suddenly remembers that the intellectual property is registered in their personal name.

In Ukrainian business, corporate conflicts have long ceased to be a problem only for large companies. Today they arise in IT startups, family businesses, trading companies, and fintech projects. And almost always the reason is the same — the absence of clear rules between partners.
A corporate dispute almost always begins not with court proceedings, but with the absence of documented agreements between partners.

Get consultation on a corporate dispute

What is considered a corporate dispute

A corporate dispute is a conflict related to company management, participants’ shares, or the exercise of corporate rights.

Most often, businesses face the following situations:

challenging decisions of general meetings;
illegal replacement of the director;
disputes over LLC shares;
conflicts between co-owners;
blocking company operations;
withdrawal of assets;
violation of minority shareholders’ rights;
raiding actions.

In practice, a corporate dispute is almost never limited only to court proceedings. Accounts may be blocked in parallel, contracts suspended, or problems with banks and counterparties may arise.

Why businesses lose corporate conflicts

The main problem of most Ukrainian companies is legal “improvisation.” While the business is growing, it seems convenient. But during a conflict, it turns out that critically important matters were never documented.

The most dangerous mistakes look as follows:

the partnership exists only on verbal agreements;
there is no shareholders agreement;
the director has unlimited powers;
access to banks and registers is controlled by one person;
intellectual property is registered incorrectly;
shares are distributed formally rather than actually.

IT and fintech companies remain especially risky. Businesses are often created quickly, while legal documents are postponed “for later.” As a result, after profits or investors appear, a conflict arises regarding control over the company.

Protect the business from a corporate conflict

What typical corporate disputes in Ukraine look like

Corporate conflicts may develop according to different scenarios, but most of them repeat year after year.

Type of dispute	What happens	Consequence for business
Conflict between partners	Company decisions are blocked	Loss of manageability
Illegal replacement of the director	Control passes to another person	Account blocking
Share dispute	Ownership rights are challenged	Years of litigation
Raider attack	Manipulations with registers	Loss of assets

A separate category includes disputes with investors. After attracting financing, business owners often realize that they have different visions for the company’s development. Without prescribed deadlock resolution mechanisms and partnership exit procedures, conflict is almost inevitable.

How to protect a business from a corporate dispute

It is impossible to completely avoid conflicts. However, it is possible to significantly reduce the risk of a situation where the business literally stops operating.

For this, the company should:

enter into corporate agreements;
limit the director’s powers;
fix voting mechanisms;
control access to banks and registers;
register intellectual property in the company’s name;
conduct regular legal audits.

The most important thing is not to wait until the conflict has already arisen. In corporate disputes, time works against the business. While owners are “negotiating,” assets may be withdrawn and control over the company lost.
In corporate disputes, the speed of legal response often determines whether the business will retain control over its assets.

What to do if a corporate conflict has already started

In most cases, businesses make the same mistake — trying to resolve a corporate dispute exclusively through negotiations. Negotiations are important, but without parallel legal protection they often only give the other side time.

In critical situations, the following may be required:

securing a claim;
seizure of corporate rights;
blocking registration actions;
urgent change of the corporate structure;
support of criminal proceedings.

It is precisely the speed of reaction that often determines whether the owner will retain control over the business.

Order support for a corporate dispute

Why companies turn to “Prikhodko & Partners”

“Prikhodko & Partners” supports corporate disputes of Ukrainian and international businesses, including conflicts between partners, share disputes, investor protection, and counteraction to raiding actions.

The team works not only with court proceedings, but also with preventive corporate structuring that helps minimize risks before a conflict even appears.

“Prikhodko & Partners” pays special attention to the IT and fintech sector, where corporate disputes are often combined with issues of intellectual property, international structures, and banking compliance. In such cases, it is important not only to win in court, but also to preserve business operability and investment attractiveness.

Practice shows that companies that implemented corporate protection mechanisms in advance go through conflicts much faster and with lower financial losses.

For consultation regarding a corporate dispute or business protection, leave a request through the form below.

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1 question

Do you need legal help to resolve a corporate dispute?

Yes

2 question

Are your agreements with your partner just “on paper”?

Yes

3 question

Is someone trying to take your share of the business away from you?

Yes

FAQ

Can a decision of the general meeting of LLC participants be challenged?

Yes. If the procedure for convening the meeting, voting rules, or the rights of a company participant were violated, the meeting decision may be declared invalid.

What should be done if a partner blocks the company’s operations?

It is necessary to urgently assess corporate documents, the powers of the parties, and risks to assets. In many cases, it is important to immediately apply judicial protection mechanisms.

How to protect a business from raiding in Ukraine?

The main tools are a proper corporate structure, control of access to registers, corporate agreements, and оперативна legal response in case of attempts to illegally change control over the company.

Successful cases on the topic: