Kyiv, January 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Energobank (Kyiv) has delayed paying its clients, the heads of private joint-stock company Biriuza technical research center (Kyiv), a Mykolaiv-based group of companies Prometey (Prometheus) and private enterprise ImportTechnoService Firm (Zhytomyr).

"If earlier they asked to wait for two or three days, today they say that we should decide ourselves what to do. This [is a] complete refusal," Director of ImportTechnoService Firm Serhiy Riabko said during a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.

"When payment is delayed during one day and settled at the end of the day it differs from the situation when payment is delayed for two weeks… We maintain relations with the bank, we're holding negotiations, but this results in nothing," Prometey group CFO Serhiy Denyschych said.

He said that the bank started to delay payments in early 2015.

The companies hope to draw the attention of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to the situation. The companies are also ready to continue fighting for access to their funds in court.

"The legislative base of our banking system foresees many-sided protection of depositors, but it does not see what to use to protect companies… Our money simply disappeared from correspondent accounts," Chairman of the supervisory board of Prometey group Rafael Horoian said.

According to the press conference participants, the Prometey group is being deprived of access to UAH 2.5 million, Biriuza technical research center – around UAH 2 million and ImportTechnoService Firm – UAH 200,000.

The NBU has so far not commented on the situation to Interfax-Ukraine.

Energobank said that the delay of payments is linked to the implementation of a transaction on changing the ownership structure of the bank, and problems over which the bank has no control.

The bank also said that last week an extraordinary meeting of the supervisory board members and shareholders was held, and that the bank has promised to make their decisions public in the near future.