The Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) and its legal counsels have no authority to represent the interests of Mezhprombank.
It is a hard task commenting on one more announcement from DIA, claiming alleged “win” in London courts. Indeed, as of 7 December 2017, the Agency and its legal consultants have once more lost their authority to represent the interests of Mezhprombank, be it in Russian or in foreign courts. (On 7 December the extension period of bankruptcy proceedings against Mezhprombank expired, and the hearing for the consideration of DIA’s new request has been set to take place on 13 February 2018.)
[Sergei Pugachev’s comments to radio channel Kommersant FM]
Sergei Pugachev is a citizen of France and he is not a resident of the United Kingdom, where he does not own any assets. Neither he, nor his lawyers take part in hearings that take place in that country. Already in 2014 DIA declared having obtained an award by the High Court in London, adopting interim measures in excess of 1 billion pounds sterling, targeting Sergei Pugachev’s assets worldwide. Ever since the Agency has been trying to persuade everyone that these funds have been almost recovered and paid into the bankrupt’s estate, and that it is now only a matter of dividing them between creditors. In reality, DIA has in the meantime spent over 2 billion rubles in lawyers fees (having hired the services of Hogan Lovells in the UK and of Yakovlev&Partners’ in Russia), but failed to make any new payments to the creditors of Mezhprombank. Nor has Sergei Pugachev received a single kopeck from DIA, though being the bank’s largest creditor (taking into account his companies and assets expropriated by the Russian State).
DIA regularly announces that houses, planes and yachts were confiscated from Sergei Pugachev, but in reality nothing of the sort happened nor shall happen. On the other hand, criminal cases filed in European courts against the management of DIA are likely to be soon brought to a conclusion. These include suits against the Agency’s First Deputy Director General Valery Miroshnikov, as well as the Head of the Moscow law firm Yakovlev&Partners Andrei Yakovlev and the same firm’s partner Maya Chudutova, who are being sued for the extorsion of 350 million dollars from ex-senator Pugachev.
DIA’s new announcement is nothing short of fake and was made in anticipation of the court examination of the Agency’s request to extend its authority as bankruptcy manager of Mezhprombank. The Agency’s claim was rejected by the commercial court of the first instance, whereby the Agency lost all legal authority as Mezhprombank’s bankruptcy manager. In addition this announcement aims, as ever, to distract attention from the case filed by Sergei Pugachev against the Russian Federation, that is currently being examined by the International Tribunal in The Hague and in which Sergei Pugachev claims over 12 billion compensation for the expropriation of his assets.