The Prosecutor General's Office has joined the case of an attempted asset stripping.
Forbes has learned new details about the attempted asset stripping case against Ukrgasbank. Minority shareholders have appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Finance demanding that they expedite the investigation into the bank's asset seizure.
As a reminder, in late February 2016, the Security Service of Ukraine announced it had thwarted an attempt to withdraw collateral assets from the state-owned Ukrgasbank. According to Forbes, the plots in question were located on Staronavodnytska Street in Kyiv. The SBU estimates their estimated value at 55 million hryvnias.
"A state-owned bank in Kyiv held two land plots worth almost 55 million hryvnias as collateral. One of the bank's former private owners and a former deputy chairman of the board hacked the bank's database, removed the property from the collateral, and lifted restrictions on its sale. Acting under power of attorney from the commercial entities whose plots were collateral, the perpetrators sold one of the plots and mortgaged the other ," the SBU reported.
Ukrgasbank emphasized that, thanks to cooperation with law enforcement, all assets subject to the attempted write-off have now been returned to the bank. However, legal proceedings are ongoing: those who attempted to expropriate the land plots on Staronavodnytska Street are challenging the SBU's actions aimed at halting the asset withdrawal process from Ukrgasbank.
According to Forbes sources, law enforcement agencies raised the most questions regarding the activities of the bank's former shareholder, Oleksiy Omelianenko. Omelianenko himself, in a conversation with a Forbes journalist, denied all accusations: "I currently have no connection to entities related to Ukrgasbank. No one has summoned me for questioning, and no one is linking me to this case."
The Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Finance
Bankers believe the investigation into the situation surrounding Ukrgasbank should be transparent, as it could become a showcase for the return of illegally withdrawn assets to the state-owned financial institution.
"The overall situation in the country is not conducive to solving high-profile cases involving banks. However, restoring trust in the banking system is impossible without resolving the cases related to asset stripping. It's important that conclusions on these cases are reached not only by law enforcement agencies but also by legislators," notes Vasyl Horbal, former president of Ukrgasbank and former member of the NBU Council.
In his opinion, a number of laws concerning the activities of businesses and banks need to be urgently revised to make them more stringent. This includes prohibiting changes to a company's charter documents through the registration service, as well as the recertification of notaries and the protection of state-owned banks' interests in court.
Minority shareholders of Ukrgasbank have appealed to law enforcement agencies demanding they expedite the investigation. "Regarding the high-profile news about an attempted asset stripping at Ukrgasbank, I, as a minority shareholder, spoke with the bank's chairman of the board and head of security. The outcome of our meeting will be an official response to my inquiry regarding the status of the investigation. I have also submitted an official inquiry to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Deputy Prosecutor General, and as a result, I expect an investigation into the defendants," says Ukrgasbank minority shareholder Andriy Khilko. He also sent a request for clarification to the Ministry of Finance.
Vasyl Gorbal notes that suspicions of asset stripping exist for most of the banks currently under the protection of the Deposit Guarantee Fund. However, the fact that such an attempt was made against a state-owned bank is outrageous. "It's important to use the example of a state-owned bank to demonstrate that the state can protect its assets and prevent their stripping. This is important for the entire banking system," Gorbal concludes.
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