Business news from Ukraine

Court arrests property of Victor Medvedchuk’s wife

The court has arrested the property of Oksana Marchenko, the wife of Viktor Medvedchuk, suspected of funding Russian occupation groups, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.
“According to the materials of the Security Service, the court arrested the property of Oksana Marchenko, suspected of financing Russian occupation groups. The total value of the seized assets is more than 5.6 billion hryvnias,” the SBU Telegram channel reported Thursday.
According to the report, the court’s decision concerns stakes of 14% each in two oblenergos and more than 4% in a third, which Marchenko owns through five offshore companies.
In addition, two land plots, four residential houses in Kiev and Crimea, as well as 10 cars belonging to the figure, the SBU informs.
“In addition, the assets of Marchenko in 18 investment, agro-industrial, telecommunications and other companies were arrested. Among them – Kiev companies “Terra-Invest”, “Ukrkapital” and “Sport-Tour”, which the wife of Medvedchuk used to conduct subversive activities against Ukraine,” informs the SBU, specifying that “they (these companies – IF-U) founded a firm under Russian law, through which Marchenko transferred millions of dollars to accounts of the Russian Federal Guard Service and the Russian Interior Ministry in occupied Crimea, and also paid ‘taxes’ to the Russian budget.”
Earlier it was reported that SBU investigators notified Marchenko and the head of the affiliated Crimean firm of suspicion under Part 3 Article 110-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (financing actions committed for the purpose of violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or seizure of state power, changing the borders of the territory or state border of Ukraine).
Under the same article, the top manager of Ukrkapital and Sport-Tura was reported as suspected. The perpetrator was detained and a preventive measure in the form of detention was chosen.
As noted in the report of the SBU, the crime suspected Marchenko and the managers of the companies involved, provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment with confiscation of property. Seizure of assets will ensure the possibility of confiscation by a court decision and protect the property from re-registration to other persons.
The investigation continues.
Investigative and operational activities were carried out by employees of the Security Service of Ukraine in Ivano-Frankivsk region under the procedural guidance of the regional prosecutor’s office.

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Verkhovna Rada plans to allow forced seizure of property during war

The Verkhovna Rada intends to allow the forced seizure of property during the war.
The relevant bill No. 7605 “On Amendments to Certain Laws Regarding the Optimization of Certain Issues of Forcible Expropriation and Seizure of Property under the Legal Regime of Martial Law” was supported by the people’s deputies in the first reading (256 votes in favor) at the plenary session on Friday, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak said (fraction “Voice”) in Telegram.
The bill proposes to allow the forcible seizure of equipment that can be used for the purposes of the military-industrial complex. Such actions are carried out on the basis of a decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on a proposal agreed with the regional military administration.
The document provides that compensation for the alienated property is carried out at the expense of the state budget (within 5 subsequent budget periods).
According to the bill, movable and immovable property can be transferred to the management of the National Agency for the Detection, Search and Management of Assets Obtained from Corruption and Other Crimes (ARMA).

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UKRAINIAN COMPANY VODA UA ACCUSES CREDITWEST BANK OF GROUNDLESS BLOCKING OF PROPERTY

Creditwest Bank (Kyiv) unreasonably blocks the property that is pledged by it on the repaid loan, the owner of the group of companies Voda UA, Karpatska Dzherelna Vysokohirna, Horianka, Dmytro Nikiforov, has said.
“After all obligations under the loan agreement have been fulfilled, the bank continues to hold the property in pledge, conducts incomprehensible correspondence and constantly asks us to provide certain documents regarding financial reporting, our turnover in other banks,” he said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“They made it very clear to us … that they are not going to release pledge from our property,” Nikiforov added.
According to him, the obligations of his companies on the loan to Creditwest Bank were fulfilled on October 1 and, according to the loan agreement, the bank had to remove the encumbrance from the pledge within five days.
Nikiforov clarified that in 2018 the companies attracted a loan from Creditwest Bank in the amount of UAH 15 million to replenish working capital and finance investment projects. Later, according to the owner, he sold one of the companies that was the borrower for this loan, and after a while this company stopped serving him.
For the purpose of settlements, Nikiforov began to negotiate with the bank, at the same time the bank sold the corresponding non-performing loan to a financial company owned by the persons who own the company that stopped servicing the loan, the owner of Voda UA noted.
“Later, the financial company, bypassing the lender, tried to contact me to recover my property as a surety to repay this loan … In this case, we see a very clear algorithm for removing the unscrupulous borrower from liability,” Nikiforov said.
In his opinion, Creditwest Bank can block the pledge in the interests of the partner of its chairman of the board.
“When the story with the loan transfer took place, chairman of the board Ihor Tikhonov … suggested that I transfer part of the business to my business partner. On what conditions I didn’t listen, as I interrupted the conversation,” Nikiforov said.
He stressed that he plans to collect funds from the bank in accordance with the procedure established by law for each day of delay in the unreleased encumbrance from the pledge. In addition, Nikiforov is going to apply to law enforcement agencies regarding possible personal corruption motives of the bank’s management.

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LARGEST UKRAINIAN BANK WILL START SELLING ITS PROPERTY AT DUTCH AUCTIONS

PrivatBank (Kyiv) will start selling its property with discounts, as well as at Dutch auctions through the electronic trading platforms LOT.PB and OpenMarket (SETAM state enterprise), the press service of SETAM has reported.
“In the near future, such auctions will be held on objects agreed by the board of the bank,” the report says.
According to the report, PrivatBank will put up for sale own real estate objects in almost all regions of Ukraine.
“The decline in real estate prices is planned for a large number of non-core assets to accelerate the sale of the facilities that are not used in the bank’s operating activities,” the report says.
PrivatBank specified that, in addition to traditional sales, it is planned to conduct bidding according to the Dutch auction model, which implies the reduction of the lot price during the bidding process.

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STATE-OWNED UKRENERGO SELLS PROPERTY FOR UAH 170 MLN IN 2018


National Energy Company Ukrenergo in 2018 sold property for the amount of UAH 170 million at open auctions in the ProZorro e-procurement system. “Everything that was written off and accumulated in electric power systems for years, from car tires and used transformer oil to large-sized scrap metal, equipment and old cars, is put up for sale,” the company said.

The received funds in the amount of UAH 113 million in 2018 were sent, in particular, to the reconstruction of the 330 kV Kremenchuk substation, the installation of a group of single-phase transformers at the 400 kV Mukachevo substation and the reconstruction of a number of 330 kV transmission lines with the replacement of a ground wire.

In addition, Ukrenergo held 2,400 tenders in the ProZorro system with the expected cost of purchases of more than UAH 4 billion. According to the company’s calculations, the savings on the concluded contracts compared to the expected price amounted to almost UAH 200 million.

As Director of Supply Chain Management at Ukrenergo Maryna Bezrukova said, the company has developed its own methodology for predicting the cost of goods, labor and services based on the price reference book. “In European companies, the indicator of effective procurement planning ranges from 5% to 15% of savings. Ukrenergo has already reached this level,” Bezrukova said.

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COST OF UKRAINIAN COMMERCIAL PROPERTY COULD DOUBLE IN TWO YEARS

The market cost of some commercial property could double in next two or three years, Managing Director of Colliers International in Ukraine Oleksandr Nosachenko has said. “The current value of assets is very cheap. Market players in the next two to three years expect an increase in the market value of commercial real estate. If nothing dramatic happens to our country and economy, in particular, in three years, in some cases we can get the cost twice as high as the one paid by buyers,” he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the expert, given the relatively low prices for assets, now it is a good time to purchase high-quality real estate: some investors are in a hurry to close deals. Nosachenko said that in the medium and long term, the share of foreign investors in the Ukrainian market will increase. At the same time, international investors mostly look at the finished facilities, which value is below the market value, with a good location, with a stable cash flow, and quality tenants with long-term contracts.
“This is a good time to purchase the best facilities. This year very high quality facilities were sold. There will be no appearance of many good facilities, the market is very limited. I do not see the tendency for banks to get rid of high-quality collateral property. Today it is not so easy to find a good and problem-free facility, which tends to increase its value,” the expert said.
According to Colliers International, among the main facilities sold in 2018 is Horizon Park BC (GLA is 69,000 square meters in Kyiv), Sky Park SEC (GLA is 30,000 square meters in Vinnytsia), warehouse complexes located at 8 and 68, Obyizna Street (Brovary, Kyiv region), an office building located at 98, Velyka Vasylkivska Street (GLA is 9,000 square meters in Kyiv), an office building located at 29, Kovpaka Street (GLA is 6,300 square meters in Kyiv), an office building located at 100, Velyka Vasylkivska Street (part of the Toronto business center, GLA is 5,500 square meters in Kyiv).
The company also said the process of selling one of the largest and best retail properties – the Ocean Plaza shopping and entertainment center (GLA is 72,200 square meters) – is one of the events significant for the investment market.
Dragon Capital Group remains the largest real estate investor in the Ukrainian market.

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