Biography

Kyriakos is a court litigant who regularly appears before the Cyprus courts with extensive experience in civil, corporate and commercial matters, emphasizing on litigation. He has gained particular experience in interim relief applications, varying from all sorts of restrictive measures arising, inter alia, from shareholders’ disputes, fraud, contract and trust duty breaches and insolvency proceedings. His commercial and business-orientation did not take away from his ability to successfully deal with and handle a wide spectrum of areas of the law; Kyriakos’ early steps in the field were composed by a broad involvement in all sorts of civil litigation, including, inter alia, banking, torts, employment, rent control, family and a variety of private client matters. Not only does Kyriakos possess a great 360-perspective of his field of practice, his litigation profile and experience in it have granted him the skills of a top-drawer negotiator in key corporate transactional work, where he enjoys considerable success gaining a name as a good closer.

Kyriakos is highly effective, getting to the nub of any issue swiftly. His legal instinct is outstanding and he is a powerful yet calm performer, considered as a big gun of the future – being exceptionally down to earth, clear and supremely smart.

The aforesaid, his consistency in success and in character, as well as his devotion in the field and in the Firm, has led to the latter’s decision to appoint him Head of Litigation Department in 2014 and Partner in 2016.

Notable highlights of his work include but are not limited to:

• Defending an UHNWI from Russia in a €20million claim instigated against him in Cyprus, in the context of which the court seated in a substantial number of interim hearings, inter alia, of an interlocutory application where a worldwide freezing injunction, a discovery order and a Chabra order was issued ex-parte and then tried by-summons as well as of a set aside/strike out application. The dispute reached the Supreme Court, where it was eventually settled.

• Filing of a Norwich Pharmacal claim against various Cyprus companies involved in a wrongdoing caused millions worth of damage to a Russian HNWI who has been defrauded, in the context of which an interim Discovery order along with a Gagging order were issued against the Cyprus companies and their directors, out of which the applicant successfully obtained information and documents re the identity of the actual wrongdoers, following which, a claim was enabled to be filed against the disclosed wrongdoers before the Moscow Commercial Court.

• Filing one of the biggest in value matrimonial property claims in the Cypriot chronicles which involved trusts and other assets in Cyprus, Russia, Austria, Latvia and the UK. Because of the multijurisdictional nature of the claim, various law firms were involved as part of the team representing the claimant and meetings were held both in London as well as in Moscow which lead to the successful settlement of the claim.

• Representing a claimant in a breach of contract, involving a fraud element, claim against his partners for various amounts dissipated by the defendants. In the context of the action, a without-notice Search order (‘Anton Piller’) was issued and a successful inspection was carried out in the premises of the partnership in the presence of Kyriakos, a supervising officer of the Court and the solicitor of the defendants. Further, contempt of Court proceedings were initiated, withdrawn at a later stage of the proceedings when the defendants were compelled to obey the order and their purpose was served.

• Filing of an action initiated by a Ukrainian citizen against Cypriot, Ukrainian, English and Liechtenstein persons for the amount of US $30million, in a conspiracy to defraud claim for the recovery of 48 trademarks relating to the production and distribution of vodka. In the context of the action, a without-notice interim order was issued, prohibiting the alienation of the said trademarks, whilst the appointment of an interim receiver is still pending for hearing.

• Filing of an action on behalf of a Cyprus company against Cyprus and Ukrainian persons, for the amount of US $10million, as a result of a shareholders’ dispute that emerged by virtue of a ‘conspiracy to defraud’ and the subsequent alienation of assets (including a known Ukrainian TV station in which the plaintiff had interest). An interim prohibitory order was issued forbidding the dissipation of shares in a Cyprus company.

• Defending a Cyprus director of a regulated investment company, against whom a worldwide freezing injunction in aid of a civil action pending before the High Court of England and Wales was issued ex-parte. The freezing injunction was quashed and the whole petition was withdrawn.

• Successfully defending a HNWI against whom an interim freezing order was sought – for the freezing of his bank accounts in Cyprus – by an Israeli businessman for the amount of €600,000. In the context of the claim, the issue of a security for costs order against the claimant was purported by our Firm.

• Representing a Russian company in the context of a multiple derivative action for conspiracy to defraud and successfully issuing an ex-parte interim order for the appointment of an interim receiver over a BVI company’s operation, business and assets.

• Assisting a Singaporean equity company in enforcing and executing a deed of pledge over the shares of a Cyprus shipping company worth over US $15million, for which court proceedings were instigated in Cyprus with parallel proceedings taking place in Norway, where multiple freezing orders with a worldwide effect were ordered. Kyriakos offered advice, in the form of opinions on matters of Cyprus law raised in the main proceedings happening before the court in Norway.

• Assisting in the drafting and reviewing of various banking contracts and financial instruments on behalf of a prestigious foreign bank in Cyprus, such as ‘working capital overdraft facilities’, ‘term loan agreements’, ‘revolving loan agreements’, ‘personal guarantees’, ‘corporate guarantees’, ‘general liens’, ‘liens over specified accounts’, ‘fixed charges on specific assets’, ‘deed of shares pledge and assignment’, ‘deed of mortgage over lease’, ‘debentures’, ‘assignment of revenues and rights’, ‘assignment of insurances’ etc.