Ukraine court freezes property of owner of insolvent bank
18/05/2016 17:36
KIEV, May 18 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian court has approved a
central bank request to freeze the real estate and moveable
property of Ukrainian businessman Oleg Bakhmatyuk in connection
with the failure by a bank owned by him to repay loans of about
$160 million, the regulator said on Wednesday.
Last year parliament introduced laws making owners of banks
accountable if their institutions collapse, prompted by an
economic crisis that pushed scores of lenders in Ukraine's
overpopulated and shadowy banking sector into bankruptcy.
The central bank said the court had decided to freeze
Bakhmatyuk's property while it considers a lawsuit brought by
the central bank over 4 billion hryvnia ($158 million) it lent
to Finansova Initsiatyva, which was indirectly owned by
41-year-old Bakhmatyuk. Finansova -- one of Ukraine's top 20
banks -- was declared insolvent in June last year.
Bakhmatyuk, also owner of London-listed egg producer
Avangardco AVGRq.L , is guarantor to the loans, the central
bank said.
It did not say what property of Bakhmatyuk's is affected by
the court's decision.
In emailed comments, a spokeswoman for Bakhmatyuk said he
would appeal against the court decision, which she said related
to central bank claims worth about 136 million hryvnia ($5.4
million).
The flotation of 20 percent of Avangardco on the London
stock market in 2010 put Bakhmatyuk on a Forbes list of the
world's youngest billionaires, but his businesses have struggled
to turn a profit since the 2014 separatist uprising in Ukraine
hit sales and pushed the country into economic meltdown.
The losses of Avangardco, the largest producer of shell eggs
and dry egg products in Europe, deepened to $158 million in 2015
from $26 million in 2014.
Bakhmatyuk, who also owns agriculture holding company
UkrLandFarming, is now worth $138 million and is Ukraine's 28th
richest man, according to the most recent data from Forbes
Ukraine.
($1 = 25.2300 hryvnias)
(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Additional reporting by Pavel
Polityuk; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by David
Goodman)
((alessandra.prentice@thomsonreuters.com; +380 44 244 9150;
Reuters Messaging: alessandra.prentice.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: UKRAINE BANKS/BAKHMATYUK