The Pechersky district court of Kiev on July 13 decided to recover from the former owner of Commercial Bank Financial Initiative PJSC, Oleh Bakhmatyuk, as guarantor, more than UAH 1.8 billion in favor of the National Bank of Ukraine on one of the refinancing loans provided earlier and not returned.
“Unfortunately, it is too early to put a dot in this case, but the court’s adoption of this decision is a defining event for the restoration of the violated rights of the National Bank. We are convinced that in case of its appeal, it has every reason to remain in force,” the NBU quoted in a press release on Monday the comment of the director of the legal department, Oleksandr Zima.
The National Bank recalled that in 2014 it concluded an agreement with Financial Initiative on a refinancing loan to maintain liquidity in the amount of UAH 2 billion, and Bakhmatyuk vouched for the proper fulfillment of the bank’s obligations to repay the loan funds. Since both the bank and its owner failed to fulfill their obligations, in 2017 the National Bank filed a lawsuit with the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv to recover the debt from him. During the consideration of the case in court at the expense of the pledged property provided by the property guarantors to ensure the fulfillment of the obligations of the bank there was a repayment of the loan debt in the amount of about UAH 200 million.
Now six more cases remain under consideration by the Pechersky district court of Kiev on claims of the NBU against Bakhmatyuk as a guarantor for the debts of PJSC “VEB Bank” and the bank “Financial Initiative” on other refinancing loans, and the total amount of debt Bakhmatyuk as a guarantor to the National Bank is almost UAH 8 billion, the NBU said.
It specified that it classified VIB Bank as insolvent on November 20, 2014, and Financial Initiative Bank – on June 23, 2015.
Bakhmatyuk rejects the accusations of the National Bank and puts forward counter accusations. In particular, in 2020, he obtained a decision of the Supreme Court to recognize the National Bank’s actions to withdraw Financial Initiative Bank from the market as unlawful. The businessman, who has been living in Vienna for the last few years, has also repeatedly declared his readiness to compromise with the National Bank on the issue of sureties, offering to conclude an amicable agreement with a seven-year installment period with the possibility of increasing the bail to the NBU, but to no avail.
