The ex-manager of the Belgorod branch of VTB was arrested only in absentia

Yesterday it became known that the ex-manager of the Belgorod branch of VTB, Vladimir Pashentsev, was put on the international wanted list. He is suspected of abuse of authority when issuing loans. The investigation estimates the damage to the bank from his activities at 638 million rubles. Mr. Pashentsev himself stated that these loans were indeed problematic, but VTB “took a very strange position” and refused any means of refinancing them.

Yesterday, the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Belgorod Region confirmed to Kommersant that Mr. Pashentsev was put on the international wanted list. “He hid from the investigation, in absentia one of the Belgorod city courts chose a preventive measure in the form of detention for Vladimir Pashentsev,” explained the department’s press service.

The investigative department of the regional Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened a criminal case under Art. 201 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of authority). The police do not comment on the details of the case, specifying only that we are talking about the issuance of loans by a VTB branch “in violation of established legislation.” The suspect in the case is Mr. Pashentsev. The damage to the bank, according to the investigation, amounted to 638 million rubles. The initiator of the case, as confirmed by the police, is VTB itself. According to sources close to the investigation, it is assumed that Mr. Pashentsev initiated the issuance of large loans to organizations to which he himself was related. However, the companies did not have the solvency, which led to non-repayment of debts to the bank. It is also known that several more criminal cases have been initiated by Belgorod companies regarding the non-repayment of VTB loans, but their details are not disclosed.

Vladimir Pashentsev headed the Belgorod branch of VTB from 1998 to 2009. After leaving VTB, he headed the Belgorod representative office of Transcapitalbank. However, the press service of Transcapitalbank said yesterday that Mr. Pashentsev “was the manager of the representative office for quite a short time - a few months, and since May of this year he was dismissed of his own free will.” “We pay great attention to the reputation of the bank’s employees and the reputation of our organization as a whole. Mr. Pashentsev had a difficult personal situation that caused “exacerbation in the market,” including for us, so we parted with him,” said a source in Transcapitalbank on condition of anonymity. Now the bank’s representative office in Belgorod is temporarily headed by Elena Avilova. It is worth noting that back in the middle of summer, Mr. Pashentsev gave interviews to a number of media outlets regarding problem loans of the VTB branch, and then he introduced himself as the manager of Transcapitalbank. A source familiar with the situation suggested in this regard that the dismissal of Vladimir Pashentsev could have been formalized “retroactively” when it became known that a criminal case had been initiated.

Mr. Pashentsev himself previously explained to Kommersant that he “never made decisions on issuing loans on his own,” and most of the problem borrowers that VTB is talking about proposed various schemes for restructuring their loans, but all of them were rejected. “Moreover, Transcapitalbank wanted to buy the problem debts of the companies Rosprom, Proektzhilstroy and Belagrotehsnab in the amount of $15 million from VTB, but this proposal was also rejected,” noted Mr. Pashentsev.

VTB and Transcapitalbank refused to comment on negotiations on the possible refinancing of loans to Belgorod companies. “After repeated appeals to law enforcement agencies, the bank’s statement about the crime and the existence of grounds for bringing the former head of the VTB branch in Belgorod, Vladimir Pashentsev, to criminal responsibility was considered. We are satisfied with the fact that a criminal case has been initiated and the progress of the investigation as a whole,” the VTB press service told Kommersant yesterday.

Maxim Kosinov, Maria Starikova

The banker showed secrecy