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SkyWay Group

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Euroasian Rail Skyway Systems Holding Limited, First SkyWay Invest Group Limited, Global Transport Investment Inc., SkyWay Capital Ltd.
SkyWay, SkyWay Capital
Native name
ЗАО «Струнные технологии»
ZAO "Strunnye tehnologii" [CJSC "String technology"]
Company typePrivate
IndustryInfrastructure Technology, Multi-level marketing
FounderAnatoly Eduardovich Yunitskiy
Headquartersпр. Дзержинского, 104к2. MINSK 220116,
Minsk
,
Belarus
Subsidiaries
  • Euroasian Rail SkyWay Systems Holding I-III Ltd. (British Virgin Islands)
  • Euroasian Rail SkyWay Systems Holding Ltd. (London)
  • First SkyWay Invest Group Ltd. (London)
  • Global Transport Investments Inc. (British Virgin Islands)
  • SkyWay Capital Inc. (Saint-Lucia)
  • Rail SkyWay Systems Ltd. (British Virgin Islands)
  • Skyway Greentech Company (UAE)
Websitehttp://rsw-systems.com/

SkyWay Group is a term used to refer to a group of companies centralised in Belarus,[1] but registered under business names including "Euroasian Rail Skyway Systems Ltd.",[2] "First SkyWay Invest Group Limited"[3][4] and "Global Transport Investment Inc."[5] in places like the British Virgin Islands, London and Minsk.[6] These companies are seeking potential investors all over the world for development of its technology called SkyWay[7] (or String Transport).[8] The public has been warned by financial regulators about risky investments in SkyWay Group infrastructure projects.[9]

Overview

The SkyWay Group exhibited a monorail vehicle at the InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin in 2018.

Anatoly Yunitskiy is the inventor of SkyWay technology and is also the founder, the director[10] and the main shareholder of companies in the SkyWay Group.[11] The SkyWay technology has been marketed as a new type of elevated light rail transportation system. An assessment by the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering expresses the view that the technology is unsafe.[8]

Although countries like Australia,[6] India,[8] Indonesia,[12] Italy,[6] Lithuania[13] and the United Arab Emirates[14] started negotiating with the SkyWay Group, no projects have been realized outside Belarus.[7] Some of these projects were later cancelled or postponed due to concerns about safety and financial irregularity.[8][12]

The SkyWay Group is using business practices like crowdfunding[6] and multi-level marketing.[15] It has also been documented that this company makes unsupported claims about their negotiations to encourage investment.[16][17] Many countries including Belgium,[18] the Czech Republic,[19] Estonia,[18] Germany,[20] Greece,[21] Italy,[6] Lithuania, New Zealand[18] and Slovakia[22] have warned the public about the activities of the company and its associates.[18]

Evaluation

The technology promoted by the SkyWay Group was assessed in Russia in 2008 by the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering but it was subsequently dropped after they concluded that the project was "not viable and unsafe".[8] According to their assessment, this technology is filled with a "large number of system defects" and is impractical "because it doesn’t provide an even path for the traffic".[8] The report also stated that: "Passengers are at altitude from the ground level. Destruction of any string can lead to deaths. The system is associated with great risk."[8]

In 2016, a Russian government panel that evaluated the technology called it innovative, but only in theory.[8]

Testing

SkyWay test track built in Ozyory (Russia) in 2001 which was later deconstructed
A suspended monorail vehicle running on a test track at the EcoTechnoPark in Marjina Horka (Belarus)

In 2001 a prototype of a SkyWay track was constructed in the Russian village Ozyory in Moscow Oblast. The allowable load on this track was tested there using a truck with iron wheels. This site was later deconstructed.[23]

In October 2015 the SkyWay Group started constructing a test site to demonstrate 'SkyWay' technology. It is situated in Marjina Horka (about 70 km from Minsk) and is called the EcoTechnoPark.[24] In August 2018 there were three tracks demonstrating prototypes at this site. One is for a vehicle with a maximum capacity of 48 people. The second track is for a 14-seater vehicle and the third is for a 6-seater vehicle.[25]

Scientists in Belarus have recommended that independent testing of this technology needs to be performed by accredited organisations.[16][17]

Negotiations

The SkyWay Group started negotiating with countries like Lithuania,[13] Australia,[26] India,[8] Italy[6] and Indonesia.[12] These projects were later cancelled or postponed before construction began. The most recent planned project is in the United Arab Emirates.

During negotiations in 2014 between the SkyWay Group and the municipality of Siauliai in Lithuania an investment agreement was signed, a piece of land was pre-allocated to build a SkyWay test facility and money was transferred by SkyWay to the municipality's bank accounts. The mayor of Siauliai was later criticized for negotiating with the SkyWay Group[27] and at the end of 2014 he was instructed to cancel the negotiations.[13][28]

Another project was planned at Flinders University in South Australia in 2016[26] but this was later postponed.

In May 2017 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the minister of Urban Development of the Northern Indian state Himachal Pradesh with one of the SkyWay Group companies. In July 2017 the Economic Times reported that the government was criticised for negotiating "with a company with no operational projects anywhere in the world" and doubts were raised over the safety and viability of the project.[8]

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the University of Indonesia in West Java to build on-campus 'sky trains'.[29] Plans were also made in Kalimantan. Members of the public complained about the suspicious sale of investment products and negotiations were finally cancelled in 2018.[12]

In February 2019 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai, UAE with the "Skyway Greentech Company" to develop 'sky pods' there.[14] In April 2019 the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, approved a SkyWay suspended transit system that would have a length of 15 kilometres, consist of 21 stations and link vital spots in Dubai.[30]

Marketing

The SkyWay Group has been seeking potential investors all over the world using various forms of marketing and SkyWay Capital is their main fundraiser.[7] SkyWay Capital offers "astronomical" returns on investment, even "up to a thousand times".[7] To this end they use crowdfunding[6] and multi-level marketing[15] where investors are promised remuneration for convincing other people to attend SkyWay sales meetings.[7]

SkyWay Capital sells the shares and options of companies like “Euroasian Rail Skyway Systems Ltd.”[31] and “First Skyway Invest Group Limited”.[7] These companies are registered in places like London and the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven.[6] The success of this company depends on its product - the SkyWay technology - which, according to Siol.net, "is far from commercialization".

The SkyWay Group also promotes itself by exhibiting this technology at trade fairs like the 3rd Singapore International Transport Congress and Exhibition (SITCE)[32] and InnoTrans 2018 in Berlin.[33]

It has been documented that the SkyWay Group use misleading information about their technology to promote investment. They claimed, for example, that a SkyWay project “was supported by the authorities in Mogilev” (a city in Belarus) but actual documentation from the city prove this to be untrue.[16] Similar misleading promotion has been documented relating to proposed projects in Russia,[34] the Crimea[35] and India.[16]

SkyWay Group companies that are engaged in attracting investment have not received permission to sell shares in the countries in which they are active. They also disclaim any liability if investors lose their money.[7] Financial regulatory agencies have warned that these companies show the characteristics of a pyramid scheme[18] and that they could be involved in a scam.[36]

Regulatory warnings

Many national banks and regulatory agencies have warned the public about the activities associated with the SkyWay Group of companies. The first warning was released in 2014 in Lithuania. The Bank of Lithuania released an official statement warning investors that unidentified individuals invited Lithuanian residents to invest in "next-generation string transport" by acquiring on-line shares of the private limited company which was selling them without a prospectus approved by a competent authority.[9] The Bank of Lithuania shared this warning widely “so that it is known in all countries that this company is engaged in illegal activities”.[13]

Since then warnings adjusted to the specific activities of SkyWay companies in individual countries have been released in many countries including Belgium,[4] the Czech Republic,[37] Estonia,[38] Germany,[39] Greece,[21] Indonesia,[40] Italy,[41] New Zealand[36] and Slovakia.[42]

Litigation

In September 2016 the Belarusian news sender Onliner.by published an article critical of the SkyWay Group and the EcoTechnoPark testing facility being built at the time in Marjina Horka.[43] Anatoly Yunitskiy sued them for damage done to his company and his reputation. Yunitskiy lost the case in June 2017 and was required to pay costs incurred by the defendant.[44] He appealed unsuccessfully against this dismissal.[45]

Similar litigation was instigated against the Volga News information portal, the Volzhskaya Kommuna newspaper editorial board and two of their employees for an article they published in May 2017 which was critical of a telephone marketing campaign used for funding in Samara.[34] In March 2018 the court decided against the plaintiff Andrei Khovratov who was representing the SkyWay Group.[46][45]

SkyWay and its shareholders sued the Lithuanian government in August 2018[47] for damage done to the company's reputation by a lengthy pre-trial investigation into financial fraud [13] started by the Prosecutor General's office of Lithuania in 2014 (finally concluded almost three years later after they couldn't find enough evidence). The Vilnius regional court dismissed this claim in December 2018 ruling that “there were sufficient grounds for opening the pre-trial investigation".[11]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SkyWay.

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Со скоростью 500 км/ч. На "дорогу будущего" под Марьиной Горкой изобретатели ищут 300 млн долларов". 42.tut.by. 15 September 2015.
  2. ^ Linas Jegelevičius (25 September 2015). "A genuine investment project? A boondoggle? A scheme? Lithuania: a national security threat first". Baltic News Network (BNN). Retrieved 1 March 2019. «Euroasian Rail Skyway Systems Ltd.», «American Rail Skyway Systems Ltd.», «African Rail Skyway Systems Ltd.», «Australian & Oceanic Rail Skyway Systems Ltd.» and, set purposely to Lithuania, «Rail Skyway Systems Ltd.» are a few to be mentioned. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Financiële waakhond waarschuwt voor piramidefraude van SkyWay Capital". Gazet van Antwerpen.
  4. ^ a b "First Skyway Invest Group Limited ("Skyway Capital")". Financial Services and Markets Authority. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2019. The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) warns the public against the activities of First SkyWay Invest Group Limited ("SkyWay Capital"), a company that offers investment instruments to the public in Belgium. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Lietuvos bankas perspėja dėl pasiūlymų investuoti į „Skyway" projektus". www.lrytas.lt.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "Sky Way, l'azienda del "tram volante" che non ha mai realizzato un progetto". letteraemme.it. 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Tomšič, Matic. "Kdo so Rusi, ki lovke stegujejo po slovenskem denarju". siol.net.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Venugopal, Vasudha (13 July 2017). "Doubts raised over Belarus company credential for Rs 250-crore skyway transport project in Dharamshala". The Economic Times. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  9. ^ a b ">"Bank of Lithuania warns SkyWay activities in Lithuania illegal". Lietuvos Bankas Lithuania. Archived from the original on 2017-09-10. Retrieved 2017-03-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Sparaciari, Andrea (1 May 2019). "Attaccàti al tram… Dal Pirellone a Messina, gli italiani che hanno abboccato alla fantomatica monorotaia da 500 kmh di SkyWay".
  11. ^ a b "Court dismissed Rail Skyway Systems' EUR 10 mln claim against Lithuania". The Baltic Course. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2019. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ a b c d "Investasi Mandek, PT Skyway Teknologies Indonesia Umumkan Pembekuan". 30 September 2018.
  13. ^ a b c d e Černiauskas, Šarūnas. "Lietuvos bankas: "oro traukinius" žadančio A. Junickio veikloje – sukčiavimo požymiai". DELFI. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  14. ^ a b "MoU with Skyway Greentech to develop Sky Pod Network". RTA. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
  15. ^ a b "SkyWay Capital Review: Russian transport funding 22% daily ROIs?". behindmlm.com.
  16. ^ a b c d Сидорович, Константин (11 September 2017). "«Паразитирую на финансовых пирамидах», «перспективы развития — виртуальные». Что происходит со SkyWay Юницкого - Технологии Onliner". Onliner.
  17. ^ a b Van Burren, Arthur (5 January 2018). "Das Skyway-Projekt – das Phantasialand der Träumer und Gutgläubigen?".
  18. ^ a b c d e "New Zealand's FMA Adds Skyway Capital to Warning List - Finance Magnates". Finance Magnates - Financial and business news. 12 July 2018.
  19. ^ "Review of Skyway Capital - A Few Facts Why This Business Is a Scam". 23 September 2018.
  20. ^ Van Burren, Arthur (8 November 2018). "First Skyway Invest Group Ltd – Bafin sieht Anhaltspunkte für fehlendes Verkaufsprospekt – Bafin sees evidence for missing sales prospectus".
  21. ^ a b "SkyWay Invest Group ads are not approved". EconomyNews247 Greece. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  22. ^ Van Burren, Arthur (6 February 2019). "First Skyway Invest Group Ltd. – slowakische Nationalbank gibt Warnung heraus – Slovak National Bank issues warning".
  23. ^ Сидорович, Константин (5 September 2016). "Илон Маск — чушь собачья, несите деньги мне. Белорус основал «компанию на $400 млрд» и строит под Минском «сверхскоростной» Sky Way - Технологии Onliner". Onliner. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  24. ^ "Возле Марьиной Горки строят испытательный центр транспорта будущего — Пухавiцкiя навiны. Пуховичские новости. Марьина Горка. Новости Марьиной Горки".
  25. ^ "Струнный транспорт против журналистов и ученых. Как в Марьиной Горке прошел ЭкоФест-2018". 42.tut.by. 5 August 2018.
  26. ^ a b "Unveiled - the plan to bring driverless sky trains to Adelaide". FIVEaa.
  27. ^ "Sutartis dėl Styginio transporto skandalo centre". www.snaujienos.lt. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  28. ^ "A genuine investment project? A boondoggle? A scheme? Lithuania: a national security threat first". Baltic News Network - News from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. 2014-09-25. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  29. ^ Khumaini, Anwar. "Gandeng SkyWay Indonesia, UI akan bangun 'Kereta Langit'". merdeka.com.
  30. ^ "Skyway to transport passengers along Dubai's skyscrapers". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  31. ^ Černiauskas, Šarūnas. "Transporto revoliuciją žadantis rusas Šiauliams mauna kvailio kepurę". DELFI.
  32. ^ "Gateless gantries, suspended trams among public transport innovations on show at World Cities Summit". Channel NewsAsia.
  33. ^ "Новые варианты рельсового транспорта". www.ng.ru.
  34. ^ a b ДМИТРЕНКО, Алексей. "Самарцев затягивают в "высокотехнологичную" финансовую пирамиду". ПокупкиСамара. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  35. ^ Лучников, Андрей (4 July 2017). "Под пение струн: в Севастополь зашла новая пирамида?". Примечания.ру.
  36. ^ a b "Skyway Capital/Skyway Group". Financial Markets Authority (New Zealand). Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  37. ^ "Czech National Bank Warning". www.cnb.cz.
  38. ^ "Information on First SkyWay Invest Group LTD" (PDF). EFSA website. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  39. ^ First Skyway Invest Group Ltd: Anhaltspunkte für fehlenden Verkaufsprospekt BaFin
  40. ^ Simorangkir, Eduardo. "Hati-hati! Ini 57 Investasi Bodong yang Dilarang OJK". detikfinance. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  41. ^ "Warnings". www.consob.it.
  42. ^ "Upozornenie Národnej banky Slovenska na činnosť spoločnosti First SkyWay INVEST Group Ltd. - www.nbs.sk". www.nbs.sk.
  43. ^ Сидорович, Константин (5 September 2016). "Илон Маск — чушь собачья, несите деньги мне. Белорус основал «компанию на $400 млрд» и строит под Минском «сверхскоростной» Sky Way - Технологии Onliner". Onliner. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  44. ^ Сидорович, Константин (8 June 2017). "Суд отказал академику РАЕН Юницкому в исковых претензиях к Onliner.by - Технологии Onliner". Onliner. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  45. ^ a b ДМИТРЕНКО, Алексей. "Sky Way Invest Group "приструнили" на 120 миллионов". ПокупкиСамара. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  46. ^ Лучников, Андрей (3 March 2018). "SkyWay «приструнили» на 120 млн рублей". Примечания.ру. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  47. ^ "Основатель компании, строящей струнный транспорт, подал иск против Литвы на 10 миллионов евро". 42.tut.by. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
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