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The property will be sold at a public auction, as part of enforcement proceedings.
Prominvestbank, which belongs to the Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank (VEB), has seized by a court ruling a Dnipro-based AVK Confectionary Factory as loan collateral in a UAH 1.37 billion (US$48.5 million) credit line deal.
The Donetsk Regional Economic Court allowed seizing AVK's workshop premises, fixed assets, and vehicles, the Ukrainian news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda reported on January 14, referring to the court's ruling.
The specified property will be sold at a public auction, as part of enforcement proceedings, the report said.
According to the state registry, Volodymyr Avramenko and Valeriy Kravets are ultimate beneficiaries of the AVK Confectionery Factory.
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In October 2016, Avramenko said that "the company's creditors are the occupying state's banks, and it's difficult to negotiate with them." The businessman added he was ready to pay off part of AVK's debt. However, he did not specify the share of the debt he could repay to the banks.
"AVK's debt to creditors is estimated at $160 million. But no one will repay it as the business has been destroyed," he said.
AVK owns three factories, namely in the cities of Dnipro, Luhansk, and Donetsk (the company lost control over the latter two amid Russia's occupation), employing a total of 3,500 workers.
Before 2014, the Russian market, where AVK had a 6% share, brought 70% of company revenues. The same year, Russia imposed an embargo on confectionery products, the market was completely lost.