The National Bank of Ukraine announced that the Odessa Court of Appeals had ruled to recover UAH 309 million ($11 million) from former Imexbank owner Leonid Klimov in favor of the state regulator to repay the bank’s debt on previously provided stabilization loans. The relevant court decision was received by the National Bank on December 29, 2020.
The report said that at the same time the court overturned the decision of the court of first instance, which denied the National Bank’s claim. The court’s decision has entered into force, while the National Bank will continue to take measures to implement the decision to repay the bank’s debt.
In 2014, Leonid Klimov, who was the owner of Imexbank at the time, entered into a guarantee agreement with the National Bank to repay the stabilization loan, assuming personal obligations to repay the debt to the National Bank.
“As Leonid Klimov showed a reluctance to fulfill his obligations under the surety agreement in good faith, in January 2016 the National Bank went to court to recover the debt in court. On December 14, 2018, the Primorsky District Court of Odessa rejected the claim of the National Bank, but by the decision of the Odessa Court of Appeal of November 24, 2020, the NBU’s appeal was satisfied”, – the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) website said.
It will be recalled that on January 26, 2015, the National Bank of Ukraine decided to classify Imexbank as insolvent. At the time of this decision, the bank’s controller was Leonid Klimov. The bank’s property is currently being sold with the participation of the Individual Deposit Guarantee Fund. Among the sold property is the Chornomorets Stadium in Odessa, which found a new owner on May 22, 2020 at an open auction with the twenty-first attempt. The buyer was the American company “ALLRISE CAPITAL INC.”, Which paid UAH 193.7 million (almost $7 million).
According to the Deposit Guarantee Fund of individuals, these funds came to the bank’s account and should have already been paid to creditors owed by Imexbank. But on June 11, 2020, by the decision of the investigating judge of the Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv in the case № 761/16906/20, among other things, the stadium was seized, which made it impossible to conclude a contract of sale. The foundation managed to lift the arrest from the stadium due to an appeal and now this sports facility has a new owner.
Translation: Ann Loboda
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