Procedural Notes
- After the proceedings were opened and for several months, the parties mediated, and it ended without a settlement. Proposals to return to mediation were not accepted.
- In accordance with the request and consent of the parties and in order to streamline the process, an agreed expert has been appointed Selected by the parties Already in the pre-trial stage Regarding the Quantification of Damages (CPA Omer Barnea; CPA Barnea, The Agreed Expert or The Expert).
After the opinion of CPA Barnea was received and the parties' comments were submitted to it, attempts were made to bring the dispute to an amicable conclusion and discussions were held for this purpose. This did not bear fruit.
- Key testimonies in the proceeding were heard orally, with the exception of experts.
Danan's behalf was heard: Ronen Danan (the controlling shareholder of Danan; Ronen); Dekel Tayeb (Danan's CFO; Dekel); CPA Avtzan Yishai (CPA Danan; CPA Yishai); Udi Eliyahu (CEO of Danan during the relevant period; Udi); Navot Cohen (Director of the Lehavot field at Danan during the relevant period; Navot); Eyal Karsenty (Danan's purchasing manager; Eyal); Yossi Shaabo ( Danan' s technician;Sha'abu); and Adir Portal (Operations Manager at Danan during the relevant period).
On behalf of Lehavot: Yossi Katz (Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lehavot; Yossi); Shai Lavie (CEO of Lehavot; Shai); Gila Birkenthal (Director of Customer Service at Lehavot; Gila); Marina Gimpelson (Finance Manager at Flames); Ilan Elhalal (in charge of the technical field and training technicians at Flames; Ilan); and CPA Shai Strashnov (the expert on behalf of Lehavot; CPA Strashnov).
- All the witnesses were questioned, including the agreed expert.
The hearing of the evidence began on September 6, 2023, was interrupted in October 2023 for obvious reasons, and was completed in 2024.
Written summaries of arguments were submitted.
Order of the Hearing
- The parties' mutual claims regarding breaches of the contractual engagement also give rise to disputes regarding the content of the agreements, including against the background of claims of later changes in them. Lehavot claims that after the signing of the agreement, down the road and for various reasons, the parties reached late and binding agreements on a number of issues: the start date of the second phase (the exclusivity period); You have excluded certain distributors from the Agreement; and removing the bus sector from the engagement (together: Additional Agreements). Danan rejects these arguments.
- We will first address the content of the agreements between the parties. Later, in order to examine the period relevant to the arguments, the process of termination of the engagement will be examined.
The subsequent hearing will be held in accordance with the remedies requested by the parties, since a decision on the multiplicity of arguments regarding the violations and in general will be required only on issues that affect the operational outcome of the hearing.