Speaking at the “Money" talk show broadcast on TV Channel 1+1 on 31 October 2016, Mr Viktor Polishchuk said that he has sold Bank MIKHAYLIVSKIY before the National Bank of Ukraine declared it insolvent. By saying this, Mr Polishchuk was seeking to distance himself from fraudulent operations performed at this bank on 19-20 May 2016. In addition, Mr Polishchuk said that the NBU has given its approval for the sale of this bank.
This information is false and misleading. Mr Polishchuk disseminates this information in an attempt to escape criminal liability for driving the bank into bankruptcy.
The bank owner had to notify the NBU about his intention to sell a qualifying shareholding in this bank as mandated by the applicable law. The NBU received such notification from Mr Polishchuk only on 23 May 2016, as evidenced by the stamp date. However, this notification was dated on 6 May 2016, which gives the NBU reasons to believe that it was intentionally backdated; otherwise it could be difficult to explain why it took the notification two weeks to reach the NBU after it was signed.
On 23 May 2016, the NBU declared this bank insolvent, whereas fraudulent operations were performed at the bank on 20 May.
In addition, an updated ownership structure reflecting the alleged “sale” of Bank MIKHAYLIVSKIY was sent to the NBU (in electronic format) only on 23 May 2016 and on 24 May (in paper format) when the bank had already been placed under provisional administration, as evidenced by the NBU’s electronic document flow systems and the registration stamp on the document.
Mr Polishchuk allegedly have sold his shares in Ecosipan LLC ( the company through which he owned the bank) to 11 individuals («a football team»). These individuals never submitted to the NBU documents required to acquire a qualifying holding in the bank. The share of each “buyer” was less than 9.9%. The agreements were dated on 19 May 2016.
The sale-purchase agreements did not reach the NBU until after three days from the date the bank was declared insolvent on 26 May 2016. These include eleven two-page agreements each concluded with the buyers (individuals), with the regulator having no information about any of them except passport details and the place of residence. Among the unknown buyers special attention should be paid to Mr Ihor Doroshenko (who has increased his shareholding in the bank from 3.9% to 9.01%). Thus, the Chairman of the Bank's Management Board appointed by the bank owner – Mr Polishchuk – seeks to acquire a shareholding in the same bank.
A careful reading of these documents reveals that they lack economic sense and are de facto fictitious and void. For instance, the price of shares is 9-15 times lower (depending on the agreement) than the nominal value. Furthermore, the regulator has no information about the settlements under these agreements and the source of the funds used to acquire shareholdings in this bank.
We would like to stress that following the acquisition by Mr Polishchuk of a qualifying holding in the bank in the spring of 2015, no investor has submitted documents to the NBU to acquire a qualifying in Bank MIKHAYLIVSKIY.
Therefore, the NBU underlines that Mr Polishchuk dessiminates false and misleading information in an attempt to escape criminal liability for driving the bank into bankruptcy.
Given that this confidential information constitutes banking secrecy and access thereto is subject to restrictions, the NBU cannot publish the scanned copies of these letters and agreements. At the same time, the regulator is ready to provide the law enforcement authorities with access to these documents to carry out an investigation into this case.