Economic sanctions against the former owner of the bankrupt Delta Bank, Mykola Laguna, may extend to a group of managers who manage his businesses in Ukraine. In addition, they will be involved as a party to collect the ex-banker's debts. For example, in the case of the Deposit Guarantee Fund against former members of the Delta board of directors for the recovery of UAH 23 billion in losses. This is reported by the publication “Korotko.Pro”.
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Among the sanctions applied against Laguna are the blocking of assets, prevention of the withdrawal of capital outside Ukraine, suspension of the fulfillment of economic and financial obligations on its part, prohibition of participation in privatization, lease of state property, prohibition of increasing the authorized capital of business companies and enterprises, prohibition of acquiring land plots, prohibition of payment of dividends or other payments related to corporate rights (right of ownership of a share, stocks, units) in favor of Laguna and persons acting on its behalf.
The only exception that allows payments is the repayment of debts to the Deposit Guarantee Fund of Individuals, reminds “Korotko.Pro”. To do this, the blocked assets must be arrested, transferred to the management of ARMA and sold – or collected in favor of the Guarantee Fund, following the example of what was done in the case of the Gulliver shopping center, which was taken into management by the state-owned Oschadbank and Ukreximbank, bypassing intermediaries.
The publication reminds that Laguna himself has long since ceased to own valuable assets. For example, in 2023, he initiated his own bankruptcy procedure as an individual in order to write off a number of debts to banks and the National Bank, since part of the loans to Delta Bank were issued under the personal guarantee of the owner.
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“Most of the companies that bring him dividends formally work for other people. … These include companies that own land plots for development in Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv regions, as well as in Chernihiv region,” writes “Korotko.Pro”. “The companies are partially or fully owned by his trustees, including the bank’s ex-lawyer. Lagun has already begun to “write off” some of his assets. For example, the key asset management company, Sky Capital Management AMC (now called KEP AMC), was recently transferred from a trustee to a citizen of Tajikistan. As it recently turned out, all assets are managed by an unremarkable entrepreneur from Chernihiv region.”
The publication notes that he became the “one-stop shop” for managing Laguna's assets. Therefore, it is through his connections that one can track who the ex-banker transferred his fortune to.
“The entrepreneur revealed his direct connection with Lagun in 2021, when 16 land plots belonging to Antonina Lagun in the Boryspil district of the Kyiv region in the village of Gora with a total area of about 13 hectares were transferred to him,” Korotko.Pro emphasizes.
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The most valuable are the land plots in Kyiv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. “BILGRAD LLC has 6 land plots for development in Bilogorodka with a total area of 17 hectares, KREM-1 LLC owns 7 land plots for 29 hectares, GRAFFITI-2 LLC — 14 land plots for 57 hectares, BORODYANIN INVESTMENTS LLC — 76 plots for 100 hectares, and HRAD VILNE LLC — 42 plots for 116 hectares. All these companies previously belonged to Lagun or its sister. 99 land plots in Ivano-Frankivsk region with a total area of 147 hectares for development in the village of Bystrets, Verkhovyna district belong to CONCEPT HOLDING LLC,” reports Korotko.Pro.
The publication states that if Laguna's managers violate the sanctions regime — for example, by paying him dividends or engaging in other activities that can be interpreted as facilitating the circumvention of sanctions — they may be subject to criminal liability. Also, in the future, sanctions from the US, EU, UK, Canada, and Switzerland may be imposed against the managers and Laguna himself as part of the synchronization of sanction measures. In addition, if presidential bill No. 12406 on liability for facilitating the evasion of sanctions is adopted, a separate article will appear, which will also provide for a long-term prison term.
The publication also notes that given the sanctions against Laguna, the issue of the ex-banker's priority extradition to Ukraine becomes even more urgent.
It was previously reported that Mykola Lagun lost $100 million to Foxtrot in London.
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