It emerges despite his involvement in the Elite Center scams, despite numerous instances of fraud during Chernovetsky's "reign," despite his tenure in power during Yanukovych's time, and despite the current criminal cases against the Tumovs-Stolar connection.
Kyiv City Council deputy Vadym Stolar has become the head of the Kyiv city headquarters of the Petro Poroshenko-Solidarity Bloc.
Ukrainska Pravda learned of this from sources close to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
"Stolar's candidacy has been approved. He will be handling the majoritarian candidates, the party, and Vitali Klitschko, as the Kyiv mayoral candidate. Officially, Oleh Garyaga (chairman of the Shevchenkivskyi district organization of UDAR – UP) will lead the headquarters, but he will be a 'dress general'. Stolar will be the real boss," the source says.
Moreover, Stolar is one of the negotiators for the merger between the BPP and UDAR ahead of the local elections.
As is known, at the end of July, the Kyiv organization of the Vitali Klitschko UDAR party was headed by the chairman of the Shevchenko administration of Kyiv, Oleg Garyaga.
In 2006, Vadim Stolar was elected to the Kyiv Regional Council on the Our Ukraine list.
In 2010, he became a member of parliament from the Party of Regions, but left the party in August 2012. Since 2014, he has been a member of the Kyiv City Council, independent of any party affiliation.
Vadim Stolar is known as Vagif Aliyev's business partner ; together they built an office center near the Teatralnaya metro station, which, under pressure from Kyiv residents, was given over to the Kyiv Museum.
Furthermore, Stolar's family is implicated in the controversial development in Nikitskaya Slobodka. His mother was a co-owner, and his father was the director of the company "Mike," which was the owner of the land for the said development.
Also, according to the publication “Nashi Groshi,” Stolar is linked to the Elita-Center construction scam: in the mid-2000s, he was a co-owner of Elita-Stroyinvest LLC, through Mars-1 LLC, Inna Maistruk and Alexander Volkonsky, who is considered the organizer of the Elita-Center scam, had a stake in this company.
During the same period, from 2004 to 2006, according to the criminal case, both firms, Elita-Stroyinvest and Mars-1, were part of a group of companies that, through fictitious contracts for investment in housing construction, seized funds from more than 1,500 citizens in the amount of 382 million hryvnias.
According to the Chesno movement, Stolar missed 23% of Kyiv City Council meetings from June 2014 to March 2015.
According to the law “On the status of local council deputies,” missing more than 50% of plenary sessions during the year is grounds for revocation of the mandate.
On topic:
Tumovs, Stolar, Antonov, or Who is behind the latest banking showdowns?
The past few months have been marked by a series of scandals, revelations, and disclosures of all manner of fraud and near-bankruptcy situations in Ukrainian banks. It seems as if a real war is raging among Ukrainian bankers, with all sides ready to, as they say, devour each other just to maintain a certain amount of influence and remain in the market. Some particularly cunning individuals have taken advantage of this situation, operating behind the scenes to stoke the flames of interbank hostility, stoking the flames and leaking information about competitors to all sorts of interested parties, pulling the strings, and causing panic in the financial market.
According to SLED.net.ua, some of these puppeteers turned out to be infamous market figures who attempted to fish in troubled waters, exploiting the panic and instability in the banking sector to destabilize their competitors and, as they say, reap a few dividends for themselves. These figures had previously been sidelined and even effectively declared bankrupt, but now they were attempting to regain their former position while simultaneously undermining as many competitors as possible. These figures actively disseminated negative information about their competitors into the media and to interested parties, which resulted in a series of bank raids, and also attempted to stage several protests, including financing the infamous "Financial Maidan."
Video source: Channel 17/youtube.com
The names of these puppeteers are Vladimir Antonov, Vadim Stolar, Reinis Tumovs.... However, behind these figures are also those who used them for their own ends, that is, as "pawns." According to SLED.net.ua, these four were promised a return to the market by people at the very top of the government, for which Antonov, Tumovs, Stolar, and their "partners" signed up for some kind of interbank war... However, it appears that these aforementioned gentlemen at the top were simply "dumped," and these gentlemen are somewhat stuck in limbo...
In fact, the situation for these individuals was quite dire before the recent banking showdown. At the end of last year, the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) uncovered the theft of assets from City Commercial Bank totaling 3 billion hryvnias. City Commercial Bank is a structure owned by the aforementioned Vladimir Antonov, who acquired the bank in 2012 as Conversbank from the infamous Oleksiy Savchenko and renamed it City Commercial Bank. City Commercial Bank (CityCommerce Bank) turned out to be one of the most illiquid institutions, which the DGF began to withdraw from the market over the past year. By the time temporary administration was appointed on November 21, 2014, the bank's assets exceeded 3,9 billion hryvnias. A subsequent analysis of the bank's financial statements showed that the total damage from the actions of the bank's former owners and managers reached 3 billion hryvnias.
"At the time the bank was transferred to the Fund, its assets amounted to UAH 3,9 billion, of which UAH 2,6 billion was the loan portfolio. The estimated asset value was only UAH 90 million, and the loan portfolio was UAH 40 million. I believe their real value is even lower," Andriy Olenchyk, Deputy Managing Director of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, told FinMaidan. According to him, the Fund has filed 29 complaints with law enforcement agencies totaling UAH 3 billion. "Criminal proceedings have already been initiated for 26 complaints totaling UAH 1,8 billion," Olenchyk clarified. Most of the cases are being investigated under the articles "Fraud" and "Abuse of Office."
The City Commercial Bank's portfolio also includes illiquid collateral currently located in territories not controlled by Ukraine. For example, on April 29, 2014, PJSC Garant-Auto pledged a building in Donetsk to Beverly Rox LLC as collateral for a UAH 45 million loan. It is noteworthy that the Deputy Chairman of the Board of PJSC Garant-Auto was Mikhail Pryanichnikov, who had served as Director of the Strategy and Control Department at Global Financial Management Group LLC, the owner of City Commercial Bank, since 2012. He was also a member of the Supervisory Board of Profinbank.
Funds were also siphoned off from the bank through foreign entities, such as the Austrian Meinl Bank. A letter to the Prosecutor General's Office signed by temporary administrator Andrey Ryazantsev states that the day after the administration was instituted, the City Commercial Bank's correspondent account at Meinl Bank held €59,35 million, according to accounting records. On November 26, at the administrator's instruction, €10 from the correspondent account were transferred to Raiffeisen Bank International. A request was then sent to Meinl Bank for an additional €100, but the transaction was rejected due to City Commercial Bank's €10 debt. "Considering that the Meinl Bank account held 59,35 million euros, and that no account transactions were reflected in the bank's operating system, it can be concluded that the City Commercial Bank's management manipulated the correspondent account at Meinl Bank," the statement to the Prosecutor General's Office stated.
While investigating the bankruptcy of Latvia's Latvijas Krājbankas, the audit firm KPMG Baltics discovered in 2011 that Latvijas Krājbankas had deposited €25 million in an account at Meinl Bank and used it as collateral for a loan to Melfa Group LTD Belize. In October 2011, €20 million was withdrawn from the account as loan repayment. KPMG Baltics stated in its notice that Melfa Group LTD documents mentioned the name of Vladimir Antonov, the former owner of the City Commercial Bank and a member of the supervisory board of Latvijas Krājbankas.
However, according to a source within the bank, the temporary administration discovered documents dated 2011 in a safe deposit box, indicating that Conversbank funds were pledged as collateral for the obligations of Melfa Group LTD, a company founded and beneficially owned by Vladimir Antonov. "This fact may indicate that City Commercial Bank funds were used to cover the obligations of Melfa Group LTD Belize and its owner, Vladimir Antonov, to Meinl Bank," writes FinMaidan.
(to be continued)
SLED.net.ua
Source of the cover photo: databank.in.ua
On topic:
Stolar, Strizhak, Tumovs. Guzyr's New "Under-the-Roof"
Vladimir Antonov
EP met the 37-year-old disgraced Russian oligarch Vladimir Antonov several years ago.
Then, a pompous, huge advertisement for Converse Bank, which was later renamed CityCommerceBank, appeared on the roof of the Parus business center.
Antonov had owned the bank since 2010, and many believed that the businessman ran it remotely from London through front men.
This happened after, due to circumstances, he lost all the assets of his company, Converse Group, and became banned from leaving Britain.
However, according to Antonov, this bank was stolen from him by people he considered his friends: Vadim Stolar, Andrei Strizhak Jr. and Reinis Tumovs.
Following that interview, EP's website was subjected to a massive DDOS attack for two days. The publication was hinted that the bank's new owners may have been involved, although there is no confirmation of this.
Last Friday, the NBU appointed a temporary administration at CityCommerceBank, and EP called Antonov on Skype to get his perspective on the situation. According to him, Tumovs deliberately drove the bank into bankruptcy.
The ten-minute conversation unexpectedly dragged on and veered into the realm of corruption at the NBU. The statements made require no further comment.
Last Friday, the National Bank declared City Commercial Bank, operating under the CityCommerceBank logo, insolvent and placed it under temporary administration. What do you think of this news?
"What happened was bound to happen a couple of years ago. Anyone with even a passing understanding of the banking system should have seen that CityCommerceBank was struggling."
For a long time, clients have been complaining that their deposits aren't being returned and that the bank is experiencing liquidity problems. However, this particular bank hasn't seen a temporary administration for a long time.
— To be precise, depositors have been on strike since the summer of 2014. Why did the NBU introduce a temporary administration only now?
"It's simple. Mr. Tumovs (Reinis Tumovs, a bank shareholder – EP) and the company that was in charge there after the theft of Conversbank (the name of CityCommerceBank before the rebranding – EP) were given time to drain their assets."
Most likely, this bank is a shell. The network has been transferred to Profinbank. The headquarters are now in Profin's hands. The loan portfolio is apparently still there. Meanwhile, perhaps only in Ukraine are they unaware that Profin is the only bank that operates "on the books."
— What do you mean “on topic”?
"As you say, he's 'engaged in blackmail': envelopes, cash, and all that. Why this is happening under the new democratic leadership of the National Bank is beyond me."
I know for a fact that all the new shareholders of Profinbank, who supposedly acquired the new credit institution, are "flyers" who were given a few kopecks just to hold up this banner.
— Without risk or fear of losing your reputation? Who are these people?
"Maybe they don't care at all about their reputation. Maybe they don't have one, or don't even know what it is. They're just ordinary homeless people. And Reinis Tumovs is the new shareholder. Speaking of transparency."
— Do you have any inside information regarding specific CityCommerceBank indicators?
The bank had 100 branches, 108 at its peak, and now only 20 remain. And all of them are garbage. Profina's network clearly mirrors CityCommerceBank's.
I can't know what's happening with the loan portfolio because I don't have any internal documents. Most likely, all the real assets have been replaced with "equipment"—credit shops and the like. Clientele loyal to Tumovs has been transferred to Profin, judging by that bank's performance.
The bank, while everyone else was shrinking in business, doubled in size—amid the war and other consequences of the Euromaidan. Tumovs simply bought time from the National Bank.
— Do you know the names of individual CityCommerceBank depositors with large deposits who suffered as a result of this operation?
"A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since they took over my bank; two and a half years have passed. I think those who were with us have already left. I know that the banks that provided interbank loans suffered."
There were businesses that Stolar (Vadim Stolar, former CityCommerce shareholder, now Vitali Klitschko's advisor – EP) brought into the bank. I don't know which ones, that happened without me. Perhaps some of Nurulislam Arkallaev's (another former shareholder – EP) shops will suffer.
— Arkallaev, considered a man of Rinat Akhmetov, still retained influence in the bank, or did he sell his stake?
"It's easy to cover yourself up with other portraits. Well, maybe Tumovs bought them out somehow, dumped them, ditched them, or something like that. So who is Arkallaev now? He used to be a decision maker in Donetsk, now it's called the 'DPR'—goodbye!"
I think Tumovs was and still is the real beneficiary of this shop. Previously, when the Donetsk people were running the country, he needed protection, and he got it. Then he no longer needed it—he burned it down.
— Profinbank's website states that 98,8% of the bank is owned by Xeronia Limited. Who are the bank's real shareholders?
"It's linked to an offshore company and doesn't disclose its beneficiaries. The bank's physical owner is located on Mechnikov Street in Parus, where the sign for the now officially insolvent bank still hangs. This is Tumovs."
Soon he'll change his ad to Profinbank, and that's it. In economics textbooks, this kind of thing is called Bridge Bank (a successor to a failing main bank – EP). It's impossible to do something so brazenly and blatantly like that in Russia. In the 1990s, yes, but not now. And I won't even mention London.
— To what extent is this scenario agreed upon with the NBU?
— Absolutely, it was agreed upon. The bank is a regulated entity. The NBU sees that the bank has been idle for more than six months, listens to depositors' protests, and so on, but does nothing. Meanwhile, the other banks had no chance of survival.
For example, Terra Bank or Pivdenkombank. For some reason, the administration was brought in there simply, like soldiers. No one sorted anything out.
— Is Valeria Gontareva, the head of the NBU, the bad one?
"I won't say anything good or bad about Gontareva. I don't know her."
- There is a good opportunity to meet.
"Well, I don't know, I doubt she'd want that. That's not really a question for Gontareva. She probably has more of a headache right now with monetary policy."
There's banking supervision, which is the responsibility of Alla Shulga at your NBU. Apparently, law enforcement agencies or the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) will soon have questions for her—this is an outrageous case. You had a moment of clarity when Stepan Kubiv came to the NBU. He tried to establish a system of transparent rules, but he didn't succeed. It happens.
Who is Shulga? He's Nikolai Lagun's man from Delta Bank.
Now let's look at who received refinancing. VAB, which was also placed under temporary administration by all-Ukrainian shareholders? Clearly, this bank needed to be saved. It's a systemic bank. The bank also has a "sister" bank, Financial Initiative, also a large bank. Meanwhile, VAB was simply abandoned.
— On what principles does the National Bank conduct refinancing and introduce temporary administrations to banks?
"I have a feeling the National Bank has no strategy. It's unclear on what basis funds are being allocated to support bank liquidity. The criteria haven't been defined, and I'm still spinning my wheels, not knowing what to do."
This approach creates a domino effect, and quickly, especially since all Eastern loans must be fully backed, including Crimea. Essentially, the entire system has long been in negative equity. We need to figure out how to save it.
The good news used to be—there was liquidity. Now there's no liquidity. In other words, there are essentially no functioning banks in the country. Foreigners have frozen their investment plans, and Russians have been scared off. The IMF? They've already "got it" in Serbia. Everything is great there now.
— Returning to CityCommerce, if you had the power to influence the bank's policy a year ago, how would you have saved it from the crisis?
"Well, not a year. The bank was stolen on April 5, 2012. What happened after that, after Tumovs and company took over, I don't know. I don't have any internal balance sheet indicators or management information. I only see the financial statements submitted according to the National Bank's form, which are, to put it mildly, difficult to read."
Your banks present "amazing" balance sheets that don't even break down liquid assets. Looking at the balance sheet, CityCommerce appears to be doing well.
CityCommerceBank shareholders Tumovs, Strizhak, and Stolar belonged to the Party of Regions camp. How did they reach an agreement with the current government?
"No, come on! They weren't part of the Party of Regions camp. They're the kind of people who'll run wherever the wind blows, wherever the pay is highest. In your country, there are very few people who consistently pursue their own agenda; most people waver along with the party line."
— Who is politically patronizing your “friend” Tumovs today?
"The one he's paying today. Here in London, I have a friend, a well-known disgraced businessman, who, under the illusion that now, after Euromaidan, everything would be different in Ukraine, wanted to build a new world there."
He visited you and met with Maidan leaders. We once ran into each other here in London during a training session, and I asked him, "How do you like Ukraine? What has changed in light of recent events?"
He replied that if corruption isn't defeated, the experiment will fail. Ukrainian corruption is like a virus; everyone is infected with it. So, to answer your question: whoever Tumovs "gets" is the one who "protects" him.
— Since Tumovs is still afloat and, according to your version, is opening a bank, he is a generous man and, in the Ukrainian environment, an effective businessman.
"Of course! If he stole 60 million dollars from us alone, that's a cosmic sum, and for Ukraine, it's downright intergalactic."
Nothing drastic has happened for you. It's just that some faces have replaced others. Incidentally, those who are now "in charge" have already been in charge for some time. Was today or yesterday the tenth anniversary of the Orange Revolution (November 22 – EP)?
— You once shared details of corruption fees at the NBU during the "family" era. You claimed that for an inspection that "came and went," one had to pay the NBU "up to a hundred thousand dollars." Obtaining any permits cost the same amount.
You said two years ago that a banking license costs $5-6 million, "and you had to hand over a two-ruble note to the NBU, and everything was paid in cash." How have the rates changed since then?
"Nothing has changed, to be honest. I don't think there's a price guide like that anymore. That is, before, everyone understood: this is how much, that is how much. Prices also varied depending on what needed to be done."
Now the National Bank is run by people who previously worked in commercial banks. These banks are doing more or less well. And of course, PrivatBank can't be taken down, otherwise there will be a third Maidan.
You know the saying, "A fish rots from the head"? It's not about Gontareva, but about the fact that central banks everywhere should be independent of everyone. If they can pursue an independent policy, then there's something to be said for it. In your country, it's 100% dependent because there's no money and there never will be. That's one thing.
Two—your only way to keep the economy going is to inflate, print money, and fill the banks with it. It works. Your transactions are about to grind to a halt. If I'm not mistaken, you can't change more than $100 in the till anymore. Soon there won't be anything left to save.
— Speaking of the NBU's independence, how true are the rumors that Gontareva receives all key instructions via phone calls from Petro Poroshenko?
"I wasn't there, but I see that the president is appointing people to all his posts who, to one degree or another, worked with him as a businessman. But the state isn't a corporation. It's different there. Gontareva is an investment banker, probably a good one, but she's not a central bank official. There's a difference."
— And yet, how autonomous is Gontareva in her decisions?
"I don't think it's autonomous at all. CityCommerce is a case in point. The bank has been down for six months or more. Depositors are standing below, screaming like victims, but no enforcement action is being taken against this financial institution. The problem should have surfaced not this summer, but two years ago."
Knowing that the bank had a problem (and there always had been), what should the regulator have done? Technically, they should have launched a comprehensive audit. The inspectors should have written a report detailing the situation. Most likely, they did conduct audits, but they found nothing.
At this point, the bank faces liquidity issues and stops issuing deposits and covering payments. The NBU's actions in this case are simple.
He must immediately conduct an express audit and understand the institution's financial status—it's not difficult. Then, he must make a decision: rehabilitate the credit institution or place it under temporary administration and revoke its license.
— In other words, they were “brought in” so that the license wouldn’t be revoked?
"They paid for it so they'd give us time to 'collapse' the bank's assets, take what was needed from the balance sheet, and transfer clients and people. It's a whole procedure, after all, and it doesn't happen that quickly. That's all, really."
At that moment, news broke that the bank had been sold. Listen, this corpse is already stinking all over Kyiv, and it's not even dead. Who's going to buy it? And on the back of this news, the National Bank introduces a temporary administration. Hurray!
— And yet, how much does it cost to resolve such an issue these days?
"We need to look at the formula. It depends on how many healthy assets remain, how and when they were withdrawn, but I think it's not cheap."
— How much is "not cheap"? Let's get to the point.
"Ignoring the depositors outside the National Bank is an expensive proposition. It's certainly not $100 or $200."
— Are we talking about 10 million dollars?
"For $10 million—a ridiculous amount for Ukraine—you could even buy a bank. In a country that Dalia Grybauskaitė (the Lithuanian president, referring to Russia—EP) called a 'terrorist state,'" (the Lithuanian president, referring to Russia—EP), "that's simply impossible. If, God forbid, a depositor complains to the Russian Central Bank, tomorrow everyone will be at your door!"
— Since you study Ukrainian statistics, you probably understand the state of our Deposit Guarantee Fund. What advice would you give to depositors at your former bank, including yourself?
"Well, forget about me. I'll never get anything back, but the investors will. How much do you have there—200 hryvnias? That's all. What advice would I give to the investors?"
We should probably file class action lawsuits against the bank's shareholders. Tumovs still flies, and still vacations, just as he did before. The mechanisms are in place. I don't know if they exist in Ukraine.
— How did the union of the Stolar-Strizhak-Tumovs trinity come about?
"He used these guys to screw me over, and then he screwed them over. That's why he drives around in an armored car with two jeeps for security. He's afraid of something."
— Have you spoken with any of your former partners since the interview where you told the story about Conversbank?
"These gentlemen are uniquely cowardly. They don't answer calls and don't show up for meetings. Stolar once came to a meeting in Moscow, back in 2012. Some respected people asked him to. He admitted he'd screwed us over and left. We have to give him credit: he didn't chicken out. It was the first and last time."
— Have you ever had the chance to communicate with Tumovs?
"Yes, he's the kind of person who, if he saw me in person, would immediately be terrified! Understand one thing: Tumovs is a masterfully crafted instrument for ripping people off. The only question is when he'll run into someone."
He's quite careful about his own safety. I think he'll be running into trouble for a while yet. Unless he runs into the state machinery. And the state machinery always needs to be greased, so he doesn't run into trouble. Honestly, I don't care anymore. I have no doubt he'll find his own rake, and a tough one at that.
- If you call him now, he won’t pick up?
- No, of course not. I can try if you want.
- Let's.
- Now, I'll find his phone number.
(leafing through a notebook)
— Is the number Baltic or Ukrainian?
- Baltic, of course.
(Antonov dials, waits for six beeps on speakerphone and looks into the camera at his interlocutors.)
— Enough? He won't pick up, he's got my number. That's 100%. I've tried everything. If he picks up from another number, he'll hear my voice and hang up. He's always in code. It's scum like this that are ruining your country.
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