Yevhen Cherednikov, vice president of the public organization "Control of People's Property of Ukraine," expressed the opinion that Firtash and Levochkin, through their protege managers, deliberately drove the state-owned enterprise PJSC Sumykhimprom to bankruptcy. According to him, the instrument used to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the enterprise is the Asset Management Company "Industrial Investments" LLC, which is controlled by the aforementioned businessmen.
"Industrial Investments Asset Management Company, controlled by Firtash and Levochkin, which is the creditor initiating the bankruptcy of Sumykhimprom, was not initially a creditor of the company. It acquired the rights to claim the chemical company's debt in the amount of UAH 40 million from Forum Bank. Essentially, one could argue that the bank was coerced into this transaction. Forum had a final court decision to collect the debt from Sumykhimprom. However, the company's management, controlled by Firtash and Levochkin, for a long time evaded compliance with this and other court decisions. Generally accepted business logic does not allow for the acquisition of the debt of a company that is defaulting on its obligations. However, in this case, Industrial Investments Asset Management Company's acquisition of Sumykhimprom's debt claims had a different underlying motive—creating the legal preconditions and formal grounds for initiating bankruptcy proceedings for the Sumy-based chemical and titanium producer. As an interim result of Firtash and Levochkin's criminal plan, in October 2011, a month after receiving the debt claim, Industrial Investments Management Company filed a petition to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Sumykhimprom. The petition was granted," the expert reported.
It is noted that at the time of the court decision initiating the property disposal procedure at PJSC Sumykhimprom, the company's financial condition can be described as stable and satisfactory. Specifically, during 2011, the average monthly cash receipts into the company's accounts amounted to UAH 200 million, and over UAH 2,5 billion was received in total for that year. Clearly, the issue of debt repayment to the creditor initiating the bankruptcy lay in the context of the company's willingness to repay the debt.
The reason for the lack of desire to repay the debt, the right to claim which was acquired by the Industrial Investments Management Company, was Levochkin and Firtash's intention to declare Sumykhimprom insolvent through the courts.
They later formed their own creditors' committee. The oligarchs' next step was to liquidate Sumykhimprom as a legal entity and seize control of its production facilities.
As a reminder, Sumykhimprom is a chemical plant that produces mineral fertilizers, coagulants and cement additives, acids, titanium dioxide, pigments, and other chemical products. The plant is located in the southern part of Sumy. It comprises 11 main workshops, 20 auxiliary workshops, and 7 non-industrial divisions (a catering facility, a sanatorium, and others).
PJSC Sumykhimprom has the status of a basic enterprise of the chemical industry in Ukraine for the production of phosphorus mineral fertilizers.
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