Ruslan Demchak
It seems the Vorushilin Deposit Guarantee Fund has also gone into "push-pull" mode. A couple of months ago, these guys, with Gontareva's support, seized Omega Bank from Lagun. They did it brutally. They brought in an administrator to seize two prime Moscow properties: the Lybid Hotel (Ploshchad Pobedy) and the Sofiyevsky Business Center (Rylsky Lane).
The court seized the bank's assets, but this did not stop Vorushilin.
On Kononenko's orders, the bank was sold to the well-known car wash operator Ruslan Demchak for... 40 million hryvnias (20 times cheaper than the actual value of the assets).
On the basis of Omega, he created the transitional “RVS Bank”, to which he transferred assets.
Naturally, legal proceedings began, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs became interested in the case. And then Vorushilin became alarmed—selling property under judicial arrest meant a prison sentence for both him and the notary.
So they decided to quickly liquidate the bank to cover up the loose ends. Smiley face
But it wasn't to be. Demchak blocked the liquidation through the courts. After all, he had paid them money for those assets, and he basically couldn't care less how long Vorushilin served.
For some reason, the spiders in the jar don't want to "live in a new way" )))
Alexander Dubinsky.
History of the issue:
An investor has prohibited the Deposit Guarantee Fund from liquidating the bank. Wednesday, September 30, 2015, 07:00 AM
Author: Elena Gubar
Mykola Lagun's insolvent Omega Bank, which served as the foundation for the transitional RBC Bank in August, was threatened with liquidation. The Ukrainian Business Group failed to increase the institution's capital and liquidity, allowing the Deposit Guarantee Fund to initiate liquidation proceedings. However, UBG acted quickly and, on September 21, litigated a court order prohibiting members of the Deposit Guarantee Fund's executive board from taking any action. Lawyers consider the court's decision questionable.
UBG loses bankroll
The Ukrainian Business Group (UBG) failed to stabilize the operations of RBC Bank, which it acquired from the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) in late summer. As FinClub reported, the transitional bank was created on the basis of Mykola Lagun's insolvent Omega Bank. On August 26, the DGF sold the bank for UAH 31,86 million. The following day, the new owner, Oleksandr Stetsyuk's UBG, decided to increase the bank's authorized capital by UAH 120 million, to UAH 121,523 million.
By September 21, UBG had to bring RBC Bank's operations into compliance with legal requirements regarding liquidity and capital, and the National Bank's inspection had to confirm compliance. However, in letter No. 21-00006/67106/BT dated September 18, the NBU stated that the inspection results did not confirm the bank's capital compliance.
Following this, the Deposit Guarantee Fund was supposed to recommend that the NBU revoke RBC Bank's license and initiate its liquidation. However, UBG took the initiative and not only filed a lawsuit but also secured a court order on September 21st prohibiting the bank's liquidation. This interim measure is stated in the ruling of the Dniprovsky District Court of Kyiv in case No. 755/17948/15-c.
A flanking maneuver
Moreover, on September 18, when RBC Bank learned of its fate, it sent letter No. 47/15-BT to the NBU, stating that it had received UAH 48,49 million in income that day. "By recording the mortgage under a loan agreement with the Dailenko Firma State Enterprise," the court ruling states. The property in question is a sports and fitness center with a total area of 1324,6 square meters and a market value of UAH 66,934 million, located at 5 Rylsky Lane in Kyiv.
Since the deadline for bringing RBC Bank's operations into compliance by the 18th had not yet expired, and UBG was working to increase its capital and liquidity, it filed a lawsuit. UBG requested that the court prohibit the seven members of the Fund's executive board from making any decisions regarding RBC Bank, including reviewing the results of the NBU inspection, revoking the bank's license and liquidating the bank, transferring its assets and liabilities to another bank, including a transitional bank, and terminating the RBC Bank share purchase agreement.
The NBU had received similar claims before; for example, a new investor in the All-Ukrainian Development Bank blocked the liquidation of Oleksandr Yanukovych's bank. Therefore, with the support of the IMF and the government, the NBU managed to persuade parliament to enshrine in legislation a ban on courts "tying the hands" of the National Bank. However, in this case, RBC Bank circumvented the new rules. The Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv ruled that Article 152 of the Civil Procedure Code prohibits the suspension of temporary administration or liquidation of insolvent banks to secure claims by owners or creditors. However, this provision does not apply to RBC Bank, as it is not insolvent and is not undergoing temporary administration or liquidation. The court sided with UBG, finding that otherwise the plaintiff could lose ownership of RBC Bank and would not be able to stop its liquidation. Furthermore, the law prohibits courts from interfering in the NBU's operations, and this lawsuit was filed against employees of the Deposit Guarantee Fund.
The court decision obtained by UBG is controversial. "The procedure for establishing and selling a transitional bank, which is regulated by Article 42 of the Law 'On the Deposit Guarantee System for Individuals,' is part of the temporary administration procedure at the bank. This court decision implements a dubious scheme to circumvent the rules of civil procedure by imposing a ban on members of the executive board of the Deposit Guarantee Fund, rather than on the Deposit Guarantee Fund itself," explains Andrey Pavlishin, a lawyer at the law firm DE-JURE. "But banning members of the executive board from participating in votes on matters related to the transitional bank effectively prohibits the Fund from taking any actions with respect to the transitional bank, and such a ban is illegal. It's like banning the director of a legal entity from certain actions and then claiming that such a ban doesn't apply to the legal entity's activities."
But the NBU still needs to hear UBG's position. "Investors won't be able to buy insolvent banks from the Fund and then not inject capital into them, since, as the court ruling indicates, the basis for securing the claim was the investor's timely infusion of funds from the sale of mortgaged property into the insolvent bank. And the National Bank, which conducted the inspection, prematurely concluded that the investor had failed to fulfill its obligations," says Viktor Moroz, managing partner of the law firm Suprema Lex.
Uncertain owner
This bank is "controversial" for the NBU. At the time of the deal, market participants speculated about UBG's connection to MP Ruslan Demchak, who is currently prohibited from acquiring significant stakes in any banks. After all, the MP has a questionable business reputation due to the bankruptcy of Erde Bank in 2012. Ruslan Demchak denied currently owning UBG. However, it recently emerged that the NBU, having granted Oleksandr Stetsyuk permission to purchase RBC Bank, never received a 100% guarantee that the investor was the bank's real beneficiary.
"The permit was granted to the Ukrainian Business Group, owned by Oleksandr Stetsyuk. Stetsyuk had an impeccable reputation in accordance with all our requirements. And we granted him the permit before the amendments came into force that allowed us to verify the ultimate beneficiary's financial status. If the matter were being considered today, we would have reviewed his 2014 declaration and, having found no actual income or assets, would have had to deny it," Leonid Antonenko, former director of the NBU's Registration and Licensing Department, told FinClub about the pitfalls of the M&A market.
Yesterday, UBG was unable to explain to FinClub the reason for not recapitalizing the bank. The National Bank and the Deposit Guarantee Fund were also unable to provide any further information regarding RBC Bank.
Penniless owners
This is the second case where, after purchasing an insolvent bank, an investor is unable to inject funds into it. Recently, the National Bank decided to liquidate Ukrgazprombank, which was sold to the Arab company Primestar Energy FZE. Primestar Energy FZE also failed to stabilize the bank's operations within a month.
However, placing the bank in liquidation was declared by the Deposit Guarantee Fund and the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to be the least acceptable option for the state than selling the asset to an investor. "I can assume that the investor is interested in the bank but was unable to generate the necessary funds in a timely manner and needs a deferment to raise this money or agree on other terms and timelines for restoring the bank's solvency. Clearly, the NBU, the budget, and the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) are all interested in private investors taking over the bank; it's cheaper. Therefore, it's possible that the interim measures were taken with the tacit consent of the Deposit Guarantee Fund," says Yulia Kurilo, a lawyer and partner at SK GROUP.
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