After more than a year of litigation, a French bank has won an appeal against a publicly traded Ukrainian construction company in which it demanded roughly $800,000 of an outstanding loan facility.
On April 6, the High Commercial Court of Ukraine satisfied the cassation appeal launched by Corporate and Investment Bank Credit Agricole in a court case initiated by TMM Ukraine, controlled by multi-millionaire Mykola Tolmachev, the bank’s press release stated.
TMM Ukraine had asked for the nullification of the loan facility agreement between the two companies, as well as to be paid back the interests and the fees charged.
“It would have been wiser for Mr. Tolmachev not to enter into such litigation against our bank, a litigation which ridiculed himself, his businesses TMM, Sintal, and that, even if, eventually, he was not successful, tarnished Ukraine,” said Jacques Mounier, board chairman of CIB Credit Agricole in Kyiv.
Tolmachev owns the majority of the shares of TMM Ukraine, a leading construction company in Ukraine, and of Sintal, an agri-holding in Ukraine, both companies being listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
The cassation Court judged that the facility agreement was valid, as well as the interests and fees.
“We believe that such a judgment is good news for CIB Credit Agricole, but even more for Ukraine, and is a booster for the investment climate,” the bank’s press release said.
“The amount outstanding is relatively small…according to management, and we fully expect the issue to be resolved and the amount repaid by TMM as soon as the two sides hammer out the exact details,” said Alexander Romanov of BG Capital, an investment bank in Kyiv. “We do not see the issue affecting TMM’s operations in any material way.”
