| The conflict between Guta Bank and the Moscow region is widening New participants are being drawn into the conflict between Guta Bank and the administration of the Moscow region. Yesterday at a press conference, the president of Guta Bank, Alexander Petrov, said that the bank filed a lawsuit to impose a fine on the Central Bank due to the fact that the Odintsovo RCC of the Central Bank prevents the transfer of seized funds from the administration to the accounts of bailiffs. According to him, the bank also contacted the prosecutor’s office with a request to open a criminal case against the head of the RCC under the article “malicious failure to comply with a court decision.”
The bailiffs got it too. Guta Bank filed a complaint against the actions of their service due to the fact that it is not actively seizing the accounts of the Moscow region administration.
But most of all, of course, fell from Mr. Petrov to the regional authorities. “I categorically assert that Governor Boris Gromov is misleading the public by stating that the accounts have not been seized. Moreover, he is trying to complicate the actions of bailiffs,” said Alexander Petrov. In addition, the bank recently won a case for the protection of business reputation against the same Mr. Gromov, and is now going to file a similar lawsuit against Vice-Governor Mikhail Men for recent statements regarding the actions of the bank.
To date, the bank has three loan agreements on which the court has made decisions, and for one of them - in the amount of $1.895 million - writs of execution have been received. This is exactly the amount of funds the bank tried to write off from the region’s accounts (and now, unlike last year, there is actually money in these accounts). At the same time, the regional administration states that until the decision of the Supreme Arbitration Court, bailiffs do not have the right to withdraw funds from the administration’s accounts in favor of the creditor.
Despite such heightened passions, there is still hope for a settlement in relations. If things in the courts go the same way as now, the financial situation of the region will worsen. The region received a loan from Guta Bank for 6 years at a preferential 4.6% per annum, and according to the court decision, it will have to pay 17% per annum plus the cost of the bailiffs’ work (7% of the loan amount). So the region has reasons to make concessions. Alexander Petrov claims that the bank is going to cooperate with the region and is therefore ready to offer restructuring to the regional authorities. “We are committed to a constructive dialogue to resolve this issue. But first we need to at least sit down at the negotiating table. Unfortunately, so far the regional administration has refused,” he said. Nikolay KUZNETSOV |
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