REUTERS
Kyiv-based Finance and Credit Bank has been operating in Ukraine since 1990.
Ukraine's Deposit Guarantee Fund says officials of Finance and Credit Bank JSC, on the eve of its bankruptcy, siphoned off the bank's assets by providing about UAH 5 billion (US$180 million) in bad loans to legal entities.
From 2010 to 2015, bank officials in "cooperation" with the owners of a number of business entities misappropriated the bank's funds worth UAH 3.2 billion ($115.2 million) by issuing clearly unprofitable loans, while borrowers were going bankrupt shortly, according to the Fund's website.
In addition, UAH 1.7 billion ($61.2 million) was embezzled as loans for construction of an office center in the capital city of Kyiv.
Moreover, the Fund revealed a shortage of funds in the banks' correspondent accounts at Meinl Bank AG (Austria) and Bank Frick & Co.AG (Liechtenstein), as the funds totaling more than $113 million were written off by foreign banks as collateral liabilities on loans to non-resident companies.
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The Fund says it has filed 73 applications for financial offenses totaling UAH 15.5 billion ($558 million), including 16 applications worth UAH 12.7 billion ($457.2 million) related to owners and managers of Finance and Credit Bank. However, none of the cases have been brought before the court yet.
It is also reported that the estimated value of the bank' assets is UAH 9.969 billion ($358.9 million), which is almost 80% down from that in the balance sheet. At the same time, UAH 9.932 billion ($357.5 million) in guaranteed reimbursement was paid to the bank's depositors, while general requirements of creditors to the bank reach UAH 30.876 billion ($1.1 billion).
UNIAN memo. Kyiv-based Finance and Credit Bank has been operating in Ukraine since 1990. It was one of the largest banks in terms of assets. The main shareholders of the bank were Ascania Group of Companies (46.50% stake) and F&C Realty (49.97% stake) controlled by Kostyantyn Zhevago.
The National Bank of Ukraine made a decision on withdrawal of a banking license and the liquidation of Finance and Credit Bank on December 17, 2015. A temporary administration was installed at the bank on September 18, 2015, after the National Bank had designated the financial institution as insolvent.