Founder seeks to keep Nova Kakhovka construction materials plant 1 afloat
Kyiv, July 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ivan Vynnyk, the founder of Construction Materials Plant 1 LLC (Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region) says he plans to keep the enterprise afloat despite the current conflict around it.
"The plant is working, wages are paid, taxes are transferred. I hope this will carry on," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.
He also said that he was the founder of the plant and at the moment of the enterprise's creation, he owned 100%, while currently all shares of the plant are owned by Nataville Limited (Cyprus), which he connects to Alfa-Bank (Ukraine).
According to Vynnyk, he originally invested 30% of own funds in the plant, after which three credit lines were signed: two lines for letters of credit, and a credit line was supposed to be opened within which Alfa-Bank should have issued about $8 million more for the plant's economic needs (the completion of construction, start-up and commissioning, the launch of the enterprise, etc.).
"At that stage, Alfa-Bank declined to issue the required amount of credits in keeping with the previously agreed schedule of start-up and commissioning, i.e. lend money within the [credit] line for the economic needs… The money hasn't been lent in full to us, and they're not going to do this, referring to the financial crisis of 2008. Thus, the bank has laid the ground for the future seizure of the enterprise," Vynnyk said.
"Conditions for further financing were put forth: corporate rights [for the plant] were to be presented to the bank, after which the bank was ready to complete the financing of the project, and it gave me an agreement of option under which I could get my corporate rights back in case of the repayment of the credit," he added.
Vynnyk also noted that after the dispute with the bank broke out (the dismissal of director of Construction Materials Plant 1 LLC), the plant continued repaying loans, having transferred UAH 2 million on them.
"And what do we get: there is an offshore company which is in fact not an owner. The offshore company [Nataville Limited], which owns the corporate rights, serves in fact as additional collateral on the credit liabilities undertaken by us. Alfa-Bank demanded that the corporate rights be sold as additional collateral in the framework of further financing amid the crisis. This means they're not the owner of the enterprise, this is the form of collateral," he said.
Vynnyk insists that he still is the owner of Construction Materials Plant 1 LLC.
"I'm the owner of this enterprise. Why am I so sure? Because I've invested my own funds in the construction of this plant, and it was me who borrowed funds for the construction of this enterprise against my own guarantee. Now Alfa-Bank Ukraine is suing me for money for this enterprise," Vynnyk said.
According to him, he filed an appeal against a June 17, 2013, ruling by Kyiv's economic court under which UAH 321.38 million in debts on the credit and UAH 12.494 million in debts on interest for the use of the credit and other costs should be recovered from Concentrate Trade LLC (Kyiv) and Construction Materials Plant 1 LLC in favor of Alfa-Bank.
"At the moment, we've got a credit portfolio at Alfa-Bank, consisting of UAH 214 million in principal debt, and the principal debt includes UAH 107 million in capitalized interest, and UAH 55 million in interest paid by us to Alfa Bank. If one analyzes the situation in general, UAH 160 million in interest has been charged and partially paid on the actual principal debt of UAH 214 million," he said.
Vynnyk also announced the creation of a committee to resist Alfa-Bank. "The very fact that we've faced a forced seizure of the enterprise has brought our dispute from the economic and legal plane to the criminal and legal one. It is the law enforcement system that should evaluate the situation," he added.